Lady and Tiger
by Merlin Missy
Summary: Consequences 5. Xanatos offers Elisa the one thing she wants most.
1. Chapter 1

VVVVV  
Consequences Part Five: Lady and Tiger (1/3)  
a Gargoyles story  
by Merlin Missy  
Copyright 2001, 2005  
PG-13  
VVVVV

Everyone belongs to someone. Disney and Buena Vista  
Television own most of the characters and settings. Greg's  
got dibs on a few more. Dr. Henry FitzMartin is the  
property of Tara O'Shea, who loves me and gives me  
permission to borrow her toys. If there's an original  
character or two to be found, they're mine. Ask.

Thanks once again to Nicole Mason and Constance Cochran for  
their editing skills. Without them, this story would have  
sucked more.

The rating is for violence, overt and implied.

VVVVV  
March  
VVVVV

Everything was dark. From the corner of the room came a  
quick hot flare. Flame sputtered into life, illuminating  
the faces gathered in a ragged circle. At the center was  
the focus of tonight's meeting: a small child, held tightly  
in place by relentlessly strong arms. His blue-green eyes  
were big and scared, and almost covered by unruly blonde  
wisps of his hair. The flame moved closer, making him try  
to squirm away. There was only this light in the whole  
world, coming towards him without pause or mercy, a single  
candle meant to forever disrupt his world as he knew it.

He began crying, as children do when faced with such  
terrible unknowns. There was a hand on his shoulder, moving  
to take his tiny fingers into large ones. He clung to it,  
too young to know of death but not too young to fear it.

The face above the flame was golden, angelic. He looked up  
into that face, so familiar, so beloved, and now so awful  
with her blazing offering. He gave up his soul to whatever  
she would do with it.

Music surrounded him, a rude cacophony unlike the pleasing  
tinkling sounds from his big red windup record player that  
tasted of old salt. His tender ears trembled, then without  
trying, picked up on the tune. It was one he had heard  
before, on one of those records, one his mother had sung to  
him when he'd woken up from his nap that same afternoon.

The singing, chanting stopped. His father jerked his knee  
up, bouncing him, as his mother set the dreadful fire before  
him. The jiggling continued. His father said something in  
his low voice, reminding him of the uneven rush that shook  
their home at odd times during the day or night. He  
understood only his own name in what his father said, but  
the rest seemed to be important.

It was his first taste of ritual, something known and craved  
by the part of him that was a human boy: gregarious by  
species, needing community however it came.

His part of the tradition had come, and fear gripped him yet  
again. What was he to do? He had not been prepared for  
this, had no practice, wouldn't have known even if he had.  
His father encouraged him, and still, he didn't know. The  
tears returned.

"Just blow it out for him, Derek," said Aunt Elisa.

His father took a deep breath, deeper than all the world,  
and with a mighty blow, the candle flickered and died above  
its mound of chocolate cake.

Daniel Carlos Maza was now officially one year old.

VVVVV

Elisa took her own slice of cake, grabbed one for Goliath,  
and joined him near the edge of the room. He took the plate  
from her graciously, granting her a smile that in another  
situation would have led them quickly from her rooftop into  
her apartment. This evening, however, they were in a public  
place among friends, and dared not act as anything more than  
the friends they also were. It simply was not done.  
Instead, she had to content herself with watching the way  
his hair moved with each motion of his head, the touch of  
light against his skin, and she would patently ignore the  
way he placed each bite of cake between his lips.

She smiled around her own cake, as she noticed he was doing  
the exact same thing.

"Nice party, hm?" she asked him. He blinked, distracted.

"Oh, yes. Certainly." His gaze moved reluctantly from her  
to the rest of the "family." Her parents had pleaded,  
badgered, and finally bullied the clan and the gang from the  
Labyrinth to come to their place for Daniel's first  
birthday. Angela had been more than willing to come; she'd  
been confined to the Labyrinth since her return just over  
two months before, along with her rookery sisters. Even  
now, she sat on Mom's couch, holding Tachi in her lap in  
what would be a vain attempt to keep the hatchling quiet.  
Broadway was only a few feet from her, basking in her rare  
and welcome presence.

Elisa heard a ripping sound, and sure enough, the time had  
come for presents. Daniel sat on Derek's lap, tearing at  
the cartoon faces on the paper until his parents tugged it  
off for him. Mickey and Donald and Goofy fell unnoticed to  
the floor, although a section of Pluto was crumpled in  
Daniel's little hand and looked to be headed towards his  
mouth at any time. Maggie and Derek made appropriately  
happy noises about the rainbow-colored stuffed ... something  
in a box Beth had mailed earlier in the week. Daniel was  
still more interested in finding out how Pluto tasted.

The next present was one of several from her parents, who  
had decided that as Daniel was probably going to be their  
only grandbaby he was going to get the sum total of the  
spoiling they'd been saving up since she, Derek and Beth had  
been born. This particular present was in a small, flat  
box, probably clothes.

Maggie picked up the matching knit top and bottom, both in a  
pleasing shade of dark teal. As she turned the top around,  
Elisa saw tiny white buttons holding a flap in the back.  
She wasn't sure whether to be amused or saddened, and let  
herself experience a shade of both as she leaned against  
Goliath.

"Peter," said Mom, impressed, "when did you do this?"

Her father smiled uneasily. "Now and then. I wanted it to  
be a surprise. I wasn't sure if I could get the pattern  
right." He folded his hands behind him, strong, nimble  
fingers held firmly at rest. Elisa had seen him knit once  
or twice before, but as Maggie set the little outfit down,  
she knew this was something else entirely. He'd made a gift  
for his grandson, had probably spent weeks on it, possibly  
more if her mother hadn't known anything about the project.  
That was love.

They all loved Daniel, would do anything for him.

A quick shudder ran down her spine as she watched Derek play  
with his son.

"What is it?" asked Goliath.

"Nothing," she said. "Just chilly." She rubbed her  
shoulders for effect. She had not told him much of what had  
transpired the night of the winter solstice, knew herself to  
be not fully aware of the details. All she knew for certain  
was that Daniel had been ill, dying according to Owen, and  
suddenly he had been well, even thriving. And Renard had  
died the same night. Since then, Derek had been tight-  
lipped about what had occurred down there in the dark cavern  
with Owen and the witch Narcissa.

Elisa herself had played a role, for had she not gone to  
Owen, practically begged him to help?

She noticed that Goliath still watched her curiously, and  
she gave him a reasonable attempt at a smile. "Old  
thoughts," she explained.

Derek picked up another box, one Elisa had brought, and they  
began unwrapping it. Derek put an already-started edge of  
paper in Daniel's hand and encouraged him to pull it away.  
He did, among cheers from his loyal audience. Hudson,  
designated Keeper of the Camera, snapped a Polaroid. Daniel  
squealed and blinked at the bright light, then went back to  
the very serious business of seeing what he got.

Brent grabbed some of the discarded wrapping paper and began  
tearing it into little bits. Holly and Banky stayed near  
the parents, probably hoping for a chance to help unwrap.  
The clones had celebrated a collective birthday in mid-  
September and then had received presents for the winter  
holidays. As they were still fuzzy on the concept of time,  
they weren't quite sure when the next set of gifts should  
arrive, but they did hope.

Lex had bowed out of tonight's festivities; he and Nashville  
were out on patrol, and the way Malibu fidgeted, it seemed  
he wished he were with them.

"He seems to be doing better," observed Goliath, indicating  
her nephew.

"Yeah. I think he was just scared." The poor baby had  
cried during the early part of the evening, but now looked  
almost happy to be there. His gorgeous eyes glittered at  
the bright things around him. He was probably thinking this  
birthday thing was pretty cool, as the clones had. Kids.

Speaking of kids ...

Delilah sat on the couch beside Angela and Katana, watching  
Daniel, watching Tachi. She spent most of her nights in and  
around the new nursery/rookery, holding babies and turning  
eggs. Since Ariadne had delivered a month ago, the Avalon  
gargoyle had hardly stopped preening around her sisters  
about laying the first egg in their clan.

But it hadn't been the first.

There were nights 'Lilah checked almost every hour to see if  
her egg had hatched yet, never mind that it would take about  
a decade. Elisa remembered doing something similar when  
she'd been young, after watching a caterpillar she'd  
collected in a Mason jar form a sticky cocoon around itself.  
No one could say her odd offspring didn't come by it  
naturally.

The caterpillar had never emerged from its pupal state.  
She'd watched the jar for three months, until her mother had  
explained to her gently that it was not going to become a  
butterfly. Elisa feared Delilah's baby might also never  
emerge. Being half human meant that 'Lilah's DNA was  
horrendously confused. It had been a miracle, or a curse,  
that she'd become pregnant at all. By everything she  
vaguely remembered from Bio 101, Delilah should have been  
sterile.

She looked at her nephew again. On the other hand ...

Daniel pressed on a big blue button on one of his toys, and  
jerked when a plastic cow jumped out from behind a blue  
door. Very quick to learn, he then twisted the red phone-  
dial to make the farmer pop up, and pulled the yellow lever  
to present an almost-spherical chicken. Derek pushed the  
doors closed again, and Daniel opened them. Then he closed  
them himself and opened them.

"Smile," said Hudson, delirious with camera-given power, and  
Elisa had time to make a cheesy grin before the flash. The  
pictures would go into the album her mother had been keeping  
for every event in Daniel's miraculous little life.

If her Mutate nephew could have a first birthday, maybe  
'Lilah's egg could hatch.

VVVVV

Lex peered out over the edge of the Flatiron Building.  
They'd done a decent patrol so far tonight: three muggers in  
the Park foiled, a carjacker who was seriously considering  
new job options, and a guy who'd jumped off the twentieth  
storey and ended up being set down to earth. Lex rubbed his  
shoulders.

"Yeah, he could've done with a diet," Nashville agreed with  
the unspoken thought, flexing his own wings.

"At least he thanked us."

"Yeah." They stood awhile without speaking, heads resting  
on folded arms, not unlike that popular picture of cherubs,  
Lex mused. _I don't think anyone will confuse us for  
angels._

He stole a glance to his rookery nephew. With his father's  
red coloring, white hair and horns, Nash resembled what most  
humans below would consider a demon. People would throw  
rocks at him as easily as look at him. Yet, he had lived in  
a time when gargoyles and fairies and alien beasties were as  
common in the streets as any shade of human complexion. Lex  
had grown accustomed to screams, even from those he was  
helping, but Nash still recoiled every time.

It hurt to watch, some nights.

Tonight had been okay. Again, the guy had thanked them for  
saving his life, and the motorist whose car'd been taken was  
more concerned with her bags in the back seat than her  
saviors. Other nights had not been so great. Twice in the  
past month, they'd fled impromptu mobs. The last had torn  
his left wing pretty badly and only some quick thinking by  
Nashville had prevented them both from untimely deaths.

Their reception by the populace was not warming the boy to  
the twentieth century any faster.

Lex shook off his rapidly-approaching depression. "Are you  
ready?"

"Me? I was just waiting until you got your wind back, old  
man."

"Old?" Lex grasped his chest in mock horror. "I'll show  
you old, you whippersnapper!" He dove off the building, and  
Nashville followed, howling happily.

VVVVV

Elisa knew she shouldn't have accompanied them back to the  
castle even before she stepped onto the flagstones from  
Goliath's careful touch. There was nothing to indicate that  
would be the case, at least nothing overt, but she sensed  
it. There was an electric tang to the air, not magical, not  
precisely. It was the feel of air before the hairs at the  
back of one's neck stood up during a thunderstorm, and it  
meant duck.

"Detective," said Xanatos in a too-friendly manner,  
approaching her from the opposite end of the courtyard.  
_Deck him!_ screamed her instincts. _Who cares if he hasn't  
done anything yet, he's about to, dammit!_

"What do you want?" she asked him instead, knowing her  
stance was far too aggressive for the situation and not  
caring. Goliath was near her, as were the rest of the clan.  
She would be fine.

"Just a few minutes of your time," he replied smoothly, not  
apparently annoyed by, or even noticing, her belligerence.

"For what?"

"I'd like to show you something."

"Can you show all of us?"

"Certainly," said Xanatos, looking surprised that she would  
think otherwise. She didn't buy it, but if the guys could  
come with her, it probably couldn't be too bad. Or else he  
was confident enough that it could stop them as well to not  
bat an eye at her suggestion.

"Then by all means, what is it?"

He indicated the elevator. "It's downstairs, actually.  
Floor 47." Elisa looked at Goliath.

"The rest of you, stay here," Goliath said. Uncomfortably,  
the three entered the elevator together. As Xanatos punched  
the buttons, Elisa wished Lexington was back from patrol.  
Floor 47 was where he worked on odd evenings. No one there  
would be much surprised by gargoyles, but it might have been  
easier with him there.

The door binged and opened. Xanatos led the way. Elisa  
hung back with Goliath, wondering what was happening.  
Xanatos stopped in front of a closed white door. He knocked  
once and turned the doorknob, then held it for the rest to  
enter.

Elisa found herself inside a bright white laboratory, almost  
more frightening with its absence of mysteriously colored  
solutions and convoluted pieces of glassware than it would  
have been with them. The large black tables inside were  
neat and empty. A few bottles with boring white powders in  
them lined the sides of one table, not really impressive.

There were two men standing in the front of the room in  
front of a white board, one older, the other surprisingly  
young, neither looking comfortable.

"Detective, Goliath, meet Drs. FitzMartin and Sarasvati.  
Henry, Daniel, Detective Elisa Maza and Goliath, the leader  
of Lexington's clan."

Elisa nodded at them. Sarasvati was young, perhaps younger  
than she was, with coal-black eyes and hair. He seemed shy,  
uncomfortable around them, but now that she'd heard the  
name, she recalled Lex mentioning him once or twice. Lex  
thought he was okay, even with the man's religious devotion  
to Star Trek, and Elisa figured his contacts outside of his  
lab were probably limited to other Trekkers.

FitzMartin was older, maybe in his late fifties and getting  
pudgy. Elisa resisted the urge to smooth down his unkempt  
grey hair. She didn't remember Lex mentioning him at all,  
and there was something in his blue eyes she didn't trust.

Goliath folded his large arms; he had very little use for  
scientists of any type, and after the past few years, she  
didn't blame him. Dr. Sarasvati offered an unsure smile  
which Goliath did not return, instead focusing his own  
attention on Xanatos.

"What do you want with us?"

Xanatos held up his hands. "Not you. Detective, I've had  
my best people working on this project for almost two years.  
I wanted you here to see it come to fruition."

Her senses shouted danger signals at her. But Goliath was  
there ...

"All right."

"Gentlemen?"

FitzMartin said, "We've had a number of setbacks, but we  
think we know what the problem is, and we fixed the antigen  
matrix accordingly."

Elisa stared at him. "What?"

"For the project." He blinked at her as if she should know  
what he was talking about, as if anyone would.

"Xanatos ... "

"Henry, I believe a demonstration would be in order."  
FitzMartin swallowed and nodded. Sarasvati left the room  
hurriedly and brought back ...

"What have you done now?" said Goliath dangerously, looking  
at the caged animal in pity and near-rage.

"We had to duplicate the experimental conditions," said  
Sarasvati, who set the cage on the table, then removed his  
thick rubber gloves. Elisa, heart aching, looked at the  
poor creature within: a kitten with cream-colored fur. And  
batlike wings.

"This is Schrodinger," said FitzMartin, and laughed a little  
until he noticed only his partner was smiling. He dropped  
his eyes and went to a drawer at one of the tables, coming  
back with a large hypodermic needle filled with a crystal  
blue solution. "Daniel, will you hold him?"

Sarasvati donned the gloves again, opened the cage, and  
lifted the cat gently out of it. The animal hissed, and  
Elisa saw a spark slide harmlessly off the rubber.

FitzMartin held the needle in one hand while he swabbed a  
part of the cat's leg with the other. Then he grabbed hold  
of the leg and slid the needle inside. Elisa winced. She  
hated needles. The cat miaowed plaintively, and continued  
to cry as Sarasvati put him back in the cage and closed it.

"You brought us here to see you torture a cat?"

"Watch."

She did, unwillingly. After about ten minutes of watching,  
she noticed a change in the animal. The cat seemed to be  
shrinking. It cried even harder, until FitzMartin injected  
it with something else that made it lurch on its feet and  
lie down. As Elisa watched in amazement, the wings slowly  
drew into its back and were gone. The rest of the cat's  
body also changed. The fur fell out, leaving pink skin  
showing. The teeth came loose. The tail thinned.

"That's a good boy," soothed Sarasvati, stroking Schrodinger  
through the bars with his glove, removing bits of fur as he  
did so. "Yes, that's good."

The cat opened its eyes. Which were no longer cat eyes, but  
smaller, beadier. Its nose had lengthened as well, and  
Elisa became aware suddenly that the "cat" was in reality a  
large white rat. The paws had become the small scrabbly  
feet of a rodent, and the ears began to grow, take on more  
shape.

"Good boy," said Sarasvati again, and looked up with a smile  
at FitzMartin, who grinned back.

"Detective," said Xanatos, as her eyes were drawn inexorably  
back to Schrodinger, "you can tell your brother the next  
time you see him that we have a cure."

VVVVV

Hudson had clicked on CNN before anyone else could get the  
remote. Brooklyn shrugged, and settled on the couch with  
his arm draped around Katana as the stories droned by.  
Tachi had a dolly on the floor with her, and was pretending  
to change its diaper. She wasn't sure what to do with the  
tail, so she stuffed it in the diaper, too.

Broadway watched her from his chair. "You know," Brooklyn  
said, "You're gonna have one of those someday."

"Yeah," said his rookery brother with a grin.

He shared a look with 'Tana, who smiled. They remembered  
well the days of diapers with both hatchlings, made from  
whatever materials were at hand. Broadway had much that he  
didn't even know about to look forward to in the coming  
years.

As if on cue, Nash and Lex came into the living room, fresh  
from patrol.

"How was the party?" Lex asked, plopping down on the floor  
beside Tachi. Nash stayed near the edge of the room,  
whatever smile he might have worn long gone.

"It was good," said Broadway. "We brought you back some  
cake."

"Thanks," said Lex.

"How were things in the city?" Katana asked their son. He  
shrugged. "That good?" she teased.

"No one tried to kill us tonight," Nash said.

"Speakin' o' which," Hudson said, and notched up the volume.

The blonde woman on the screen stared at them, with a  
graphic beside her reading: "Gargoyle Sightings."

"This morning, the group known as the Quarrymen announced  
they captured and killed another gargoyle." The screen  
turned to a video, with the caption: "Butte, Montana." Five  
men and two women in the increasingly familiar Quarrymen  
uniforms stood over a greyish-blue gargoyle, obviously dead.

"Tachi, come here," 'Tana said quickly, but not before his  
daughter had looked at the screen.

"Mama?"

"Come here, little one," she repeated, and took the child  
into her arms, holding her face away from the television.  
"Shhh, there is my good girl."

"Yeah," said one Quarryman in a thick northern-Midwestern  
accent. "We caught this one tryin' to steal some sheep from  
a local farmer. People don't understand how these animals  
are a threat to livestock as well as people."

The screen changed back to the anchorwoman. "The ASPCA is  
going to ask the Federal Wildlife Commission to declare  
gargoyles an endangered species."

Hudson clicked off the television. "Montana."

Brooklyn nodded. "Lex?"

"I'm on it." Lexington went for his laptop. He'd been  
making a database of the places for known and suspected  
gargoyle clans, with the idea of perhaps contacting them,  
sharing information.

"Mama, why did they hurt him?"

"Because some humans are afraid of what they don't  
understand," said Katana, stroking her hair.

"We need to come out," said Nashville.

"Out?" asked Hudson.

"People need to see us, know we're not a threat, that we're  
trying to help." Nash rested his arms against the back of  
Hudson's chair. "They do accept us, eventually. Really."  
He closed his mouth again at a warning look from his father.

"Yeah," said Brooklyn, quietly. "They do."

As much as they'd tried to avoid learning the fates of  
themselves and their clan, certain things had been so deeply  
ingrained in the society yet to be that they had not escaped  
some pieces of information. Nashville knew at what price  
peace would come, and even knowing as he did so well that  
the course of time could never be altered, Brooklyn had to  
give him points for wanting to try. The kid knew what would  
be, what must be; Brooklyn alone knew the date, and there  
were nights that information weighed him down like lead.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," said Broadway. "Look  
at what happened to that poor gargoyle. It's bad enough  
that the Quarrymen are around in other cities. If they knew  
for sure that we're here, they'd hunt us all down."

"They already know we're here," said Nash. "If we're out,  
maybe we can at least get some support from the humans who  
aren't stupid." He scuffed his foot in the carpet. "There  
have to be at least one or two."

"Updated," said Lex, coming back in the room. "I've got a  
spider crawling, looking for any references to gargoyles in  
or around Montana." He looked at Nash. "What?"

Broadway said, "Nash and Brooklyn think we should tell the  
world we're here."

Lex blinked. "Why?"

"Because people fear shadows," said Katana. "They fear the  
known less than the unknown. If they see us ... "

"Then they'll know what their target looks like."

"What are we discussing?" Goliath stood in the doorway  
behind Lex. Elisa was no longer with him.

Hudson said, "They want us tae be seen."

"There's been another attack," Brooklyn interjected. "A  
gargoyle in Montana was killed by the Quarrymen last night.  
Some of us," he said, taking in his own family, "think we  
should tell the world we're here."

"Is this something you think because of what you have seen?"

Brooklyn shook his head. "Not exactly. I mean, yes, in the  
future, humans and gargoyles live at peace. We've seen  
that, and we've made no attempt to hide that future." He  
hurried on, as he saw Hudson about to ask what they _had_  
hidden. "We don't know for sure when that occurred."

Katana turned to him, but he chose not to meet her eyes.

"And you will not tell us about the future of this clan,  
which we agree is for the best. So we have no way of  
knowing if coming forward will lead to our destruction."

Brooklyn kept his mouth closed. _For the best._

"Fear is not a reason to hide," said Katana.

"Actually, it's a pretty good reason," Lex countered.  
"We've tried reaching out before." Brooklyn cringed inside;  
there were things for which Lex never would forgive the  
current mistress of the castle.

"We will consider this," said Goliath. He held up a hand  
before Broadway and Hudson could protest. "We will not act  
until and unless we are agreed. It is not merely our own  
safety we must consider." He paused. The Mutates, the  
clones, the Avalon gargoyles, and the eggs all went through  
the minds of those present, but never spoken here where  
there could always be a camera, or a tape. "We will think  
about it."

Nash let out a disgusted breath and stalked out of the room.  
Lex shrugged at the rest and followed him.

VVVVV

Elisa followed the trail down to the Labyrinth by rote. She  
had a map, had used it religiously once upon a time, but the  
wanderings and turnings down to the secret basement of what  
had once been Cyberbiotics' underground facility were so  
known to her feet that she could walk it blindfolded. Being  
practical, she preferred to use a flashlight.

Schrodinger had woken after his transformation, small and  
hairless and obviously still in some pain. However, he was  
undeniably a rat again. She'd watched. She'd seen.  
Despite what she wanted to think of Xanatos, she believed.  
He'd found the cure. Her brother would be human again.

The last time she'd seen Derek as he was, he'd been flying.  
Not with his own wings, not then. They'd fought, and they'd  
made up, just as they always had. She'd somehow expected  
things to stay that way, and they hadn't. Derek had  
changed. She had changed, too, though not in the same  
fashion. She'd learned things, important things. Like how  
to wake up mythical kings from their enchanted slumber. And  
how to lie to her boss creatively. And how to defeat the  
King of the Fairies in combat.

And to never trust a snake that had bit her already.

She stopped. The echo of her own footsteps lingered half an  
instant and was gone into whatever blackness it would.

Derek had trusted Xanatos, and it had cost him his humanity.  
The clan was still recovering from the bad reputation he had  
acquired for them. He'd arrested her father and Beth,  
kidnaped Hudson to experiment on him, tried to kill them any  
number of times. Then he had abruptly ceased the conflict,  
called a truce that still held, and allowed the clan to  
return to the castle. It had been over a year and a half  
since the night of their homecoming, and in that time, he  
had been as honorable as they could expect under the  
circumstances.

But.

What if this was just another ploy? What if he had been  
lulling them into complacency for this very moment? What if  
Xanatos wanted not only the clan, but her brother and his  
family under his thumb?

"Ah, dammit," she said to the empty cavern.

"Elisa?" came an echoing response. Water dripped somewhere  
far away.

Elisa shone her flashlight around, trying to spot the source  
of the voice. There was no way she could fail to recognize  
who'd spoken. "Where are you, 'Lilah?"

There were footsteps, and the too-familiar face appeared  
from another passageway. "Hi, Elisa."

"What're you doing all the way up here? I thought Talon  
told you to stay below."

"Yeah." She traced a circular pattern on the floor with her  
claws. "Please don't tell?"

The girl hadn't needed to ask; Elisa had noticed over the  
last few months how hyper-protective Derek was for the  
clones, especially hers. He had to know her whereabouts  
every minute of the night. Derek'd hit the roof if he knew  
she was out.

She said none of this, said instead: "I won't. I promise,"  
in her warmest voice. "Come on, we'll walk down together."

"Okay." They fell into step as they made their way back  
into the Labyrinth.

"So," Elisa said, trying to make conversation. "Why were  
you up there, anyway?"

Delilah shrugged. "Dunno. I felt like it."

_Sounds just like Nash._ But something had caught in her  
voice. "Are things okay?"

"Yeah." Now Elisa was sure she was lying.

She stopped, and took 'Lilah's hand. "Why don't you tell me  
what's wrong."

"It's nothing."

_I'll bet._ "Is it Ariadne?" 'Lilah flinched slightly.  
_Bingo._ Elisa sighed. "What's she done this time?"

"Nothing."

"You know, I don't think that worked on my mom, either."  
That drew a shy smile. "If you don't want me to tell  
anyone, I promise that I won't. But it might make you feel  
better to talk about it."

"Maybe. It's just ... When the real gargoyles came to live  
with us, I thought they were like us, we could be friends."  
Not for the first time, Elisa sensed how lonely the clones  
were, all of them. "When we got back from the party, I went  
to check on the egg."

"Was it okay?"

"Yeah. Ariadne said it was dumb to check so much, that real  
gargoyles knew how often to check their eggs. Angela told  
her to be quiet. Angela's my friend."

Elisa smiled. "Angela's your sister." _Which pisses off  
Demona to no end._

"Yeah. But she's Ariadne's friend, too, and they grew up  
together, and so did all the other real gargoyles, and she  
doesn't like to fight with her friends."

"'Lilah, Angela is old enough to pick, and win, her own  
fights. She's your friend, and she likes you, and she  
doesn't want anyone to hurt you or your brothers. You don't  
have to feel bad if that means she gets into a fight now and  
then, even with her friends. That's who she is."

"Really?"

"Really." 'Lilah put on a real smile this time. Elisa had  
an evil thought. "I want you to do something. The next  
time Ariadne or anyone else calls you dumb, I want you to  
look at them and say, 'I'm eighteen months old and I can  
read and write. When you were my age, you were still  
sucking your thumb and wetting diapers.'" 'Lilah giggled  
and Elisa tousled her blue-white hair. "Now let's get  
below. I have to talk to Talon about something very  
important."

VVVVV

"A cure?" Maggie sat in her rocking chair, Daniel asleep on  
her lap. She turned her head up to Derek, whose fingers  
were flexing on the back of the chair. He had not spoken;  
Maggie herself had asked the impossible question.

Elisa spread her own hands. "That's what it looked like.  
The thing was a cat with wings, and then it was a rat.  
Might've been an illusion, but it looked real to me."

Maggie asked, "You say Lexington knows these people?"

"I've heard him talk about them, yeah. I haven't seen him  
since, and yes, I intend to ask him everything he knows."

Elisa's face wore a mixed expression. Maggie could see joy,  
threatening to break out, but more, she saw caution, fear,  
and a cold suspicion that this was simply another game.  
Maggie didn't blame her. After she'd finally learned of  
Xanatos' deception, how he'd never intended to cure her or  
the others, she was also wary of trusting him with her life,  
much less her child's.

Daniel shifted in his sleep, and Maggie played with a lock  
of his hair. Whatever Derek had done in the darkness three  
months ago, it had worked. Daniel's fragile health had  
stabilized. Did she dare even consider risking it for an  
experiment?"

"Derek?" Elisa said.

"I don't believe him." The words, and tone, were final.

"I'm not sure I do, either," his sister replied.

"No, I am sure. I don't believe he's found a cure. He  
wants something, from us or from you."

Elisa glanced away; she'd surely had the same thought. "If  
you'd seen the demonstration, you'd know."

"I saw him fake Sevarius' death. The man is capable of  
anything."

"That also means he's capable of doing something right now  
and then. He's not who he was."

Derek chuckled without humor. "Then who is he?"

"Someone different, maybe better. Alex has changed him."

"Fool me once," Derek said.

"He's fooled us all more than once," said Maggie.

"I know," said Elisa. "I know. And no, I don't trust him  
any farther than I can throw him, and yes, maybe he just  
wants to get you guys back to the castle for some nefarious  
plot we can't even imagine yet. But maybe he feels guilty  
for what he's done and is trying to fix it."

"You'll forgive me if I don't accept that possibility."

"Just think about it," Elisa said. "Think about Claw.  
Think about Daniel. Maybe you don't trust him, but they  
deserve a chance to get better." She grabbed her jacket.  
"I'm gonna go. It'll be morning soon, and I'd like to run  
some errands tomorrow before work."

"Elisa," said Maggie. "Thanks. It's not that we're not  
grateful. We're just worried."

"I know," she said. She kissed Daniel on the forehead,  
touched Maggie on the shoulder, hugged her brother, and  
left.

When her footsteps were gone, Maggie again returned her gaze  
to her lover. "We have to consider it."

"Yeah," said Derek. "But I don't have to like it."

VVVVV

Elisa yawned as she logged on to her terminal. Matt glanced  
over from his own desk. "Late day?"

"Kinda," she said, checking announcements from the Captain,  
a few new assignments to keep her nights filled. The days  
of paper in-boxes were ending rapidly. It meant her desk  
was getting cleaner, but did nothing for her workload. She  
caught Matt's knowing smirk. "You have a one-track mind,  
Bluestone. I was at Daniel's birthday party last night,  
remember?" she asked in a lower voice.

"How did that go?"

"Not bad. It's the first time everyone's been at Mom and  
Dad's. Ever. But they handled it okay. Oh. Derek and  
Maggie say thanks for the firetruck."

"They're welcome."

Elisa thought of Daniel, playing with the truck down in the  
eternal darkness of his subterranean home. They could  
change that, change everything.

"Matt, I've told you about what happened to Derek, right?"

"Yeah," he said, eyes on his own monitor.

"Xanatos says they've found a cure."

Matt swivelled in his chair to face her. "So you trust  
him?"

"No."

"Did you tell Derek?"

"Yeah, and he doesn't trust him, either."

"So tell Xanatos 'Thanks but no thanks.'"

"But what if this is Daniel's only chance to grow up a  
normal kid?"

"What if it isn't?"

She sat back in her chair. "It's like when I asked Derek to  
trust Owen, except now we're both having the same  
misgivings."

"Trust Owen for what?"

"Forget it," she said, waving her hand. Matt didn't know  
about Owen's split personality issues, and he didn't need to  
know. "On the one hand, I want this to be it, I want Derek  
and the rest to get better. On the other hand, I can't  
afford to trust Xanatos. I just can't."

"Then it sounds to me like you've made your decision."

"Guess so," she said, and she printed out her caseload for  
the evening.

VVVVV

"This is Travis Marshall, reporting live from the latest  
scene of a gargoyle sighting. This shopkeeper was robbed  
earlier tonight, and says the robbery was foiled by two  
gargoyles."

The newsman turned towards the shopkeeper and poked a mike  
into his face.

The shopkeeper rubbed his head. "Yeah, this guy came into  
the store with a gun and demanded all the register money.  
After he went outside, I heard a commotion and went to the  
window. These two gargoyles had him on the ground. The  
little one gave me my money back. I called the police, but  
they were gone when the cops arrived."

"There you have it," said Marshall. "Are gargoyles a menace  
to society, or its guardian angels? This reporter doesn't  
know, either."

The cameraman said, "And, out."

"I hate hiding," said Nash in a fierce whisper. Lex  
shrugged and scooted closer in the convenient shadow they'd  
found. "It's nice that he said thanks and all, but that  
Marshall guy said we might be a menace to society!"

"That's just news talk. You've heard it before."

"Pisses me off."

"Me, too," Lex admitted.

"Good." Nash dropped from the building onto the sidewalk.  
"Mr. Marshall!"

_Oh shit._

The newsman's head whipped around. The cameraman swivelled,  
and flicked a button. _They're recording. This is bad._

"Nashville!" he hissed, but Nash was already on film.

"Mr. Marshall, we're not a menace to society. We're not  
angels, either. We're just trying to live."

"That's the one!" said the shopkeeper, smiling broadly. He  
ran to Nash and shook his hand. "Thank you, and thank your  
friend." He looked around. "Where is your friend?"

Marshall, meanwhile, was making choking noises in his  
throat. "A gag ... Gargoyle?"

Lex cursed, roundly and fully. Cursed Nashville for being  
stupid. Cursed Brooklyn for going off for forty years and  
having kids. Cursed the world in general.

Then he dropped down behind Nash and put on a smile he  
prayed didn't look like a rictus.

"There's your friend!" His own hand was shaken profusely.  
"Thank you."

"Are we getting this?" said Marshall. The cameraman nodded,  
keeping the both of them squarely in frame, Lex was sure.

"Um, Travis Marshal here, with two gargoyles who just saved  
this man's store. Mr., um, Gargoyle?"

"I'm Nashville. This is Lexington. Yeah, we're gargoyles.  
And we're not dangerous. We're just like you. We just want  
to do our thing, live our lives."

"Save shops!" the shopkeeper dropped in, and Lex smiled.

"That, too. That's what we do," said Lex. "Gargoyles  
protect. We protect this city."

"Protect this city from what?" asked Marshall, holding the  
mike close to them.

"Anything, any danger," Lex said. "This is our home now,  
right Nash?"

Nash's eyes widened, and then he nodded slowly. "Yeah. Our  
home."

"Anyway," said Lex. "We should go. Gotta lot of patrolling  
to do tonight. C'mon."

"Wait!" said Marshall. "How do we ... What ... If we need  
to find you, how can we?"

"We'll be around," said Lex, and he took Nash's hand and  
dragged him down the street, away from the camera. They  
climbed the building out of sight, and Lex saw the camera  
catch them again as they glided away.

When they were well out of microphone range, Lex turned to  
Nashville.

"We're going home right now."

VVVVV

They landed at the top of the tower. Dawn was still well  
away. "Maybe they didn't see it," said Lex as they  
approached the living room.

A shadow loomed in the doorway. "Why," Brooklyn asked them  
in a low dangerous voice, "Were the two of you on  
TELEVISION!" His eyes blazed white.

"I think they saw," said Nash, and his father clenched him  
by the throat, holding him against the wall.

"When your mother gets home, you're a dead gargoyle. Until  
then, go to the tower. Stay there. Do not read. Do not  
play. Just stay there."

"Okay," choked Nash meekly. Brooklyn let go his grip and  
Nash darted for the stairs.

"He's an idiot. I expect that of him. What were _you_  
thinking, Lexington? You could've both been killed!"

"We could get killed every night," Lex shot back. "And  
every human down there thinks we're monsters. This way,  
maybe they'll learn better. And I thought you _wanted_ to  
go public, Mr. The-Future-Is-Much-Brighter!"

"Not like this!" Behind him, in the otherwise empty living  
room, Bronx stood and stretched his paws. He gave the two  
of them a rueful look as he trotted past to nap somewhere  
quieter, like Beirut.

"Why not like this? We just saved a guy from a robbery.  
Looks pretty good for us."

"Looks pretty suspicious. Why were you outside when it  
happened?"

Lex drew back. "We were nearby. When he walked out, we saw  
the sack and the gun. Doesn't take a genius to figure out  
what happened."

"You were lucky he didn't shoot both of you, or that the  
shopkeeper didn't."

"Same risk we run every night. Katana's out right now  
running that risk, and it's bigger for her because Hudson's  
... "

"Not young and stupid enough to think he should be on t.v.."

Lex felt the heat rise in his face. "We hatched the same  
day, _brother_. I'm an hour older than you, remember?"

"I've lived more."

"I don't care! I'm an adult in this clan the same as you  
are, and I can make decisions just as well. If you have to  
treat someone like a child, save it for your kids."

"Lex," he said, more gently. "You could've been ... "

"Could've. Should've. Wasn't. Didn't. You don't care  
that we talked to the press. You just wanted it to be you."  
Lex wasn't sure why he said it, only that he wanted the look  
of pain on Brooklyn's face and was glad to see it.

"We should have discussed this as a clan."

"The decision was made. We made it. Live with it."

As he turned and stalked away, he heard his brother say  
softly, "I hope we can."

VVVVV

Puck held his flute to his lips, took a deep breath, and  
blew. Seven clear notes flew from the instrument like  
butterflies and whisked away as he repeated them. He  
started into a calm melody he knew well, and as his fingers  
reaccustomed themselves to the feel of the gold beneath  
them, he grew more daring, tried more complicated patterns  
of fingerings, letting the music pour from him, knowing he  
was but a brief vessel containing that which had always  
been, waiting for him to release it. The melody soared to a  
single point, a note high and tremulous, a perfect sound.  
He held it, and let the music drop into a lower key before  
his heart broke at the beauty.

Without trying, he felt the tune shift into one he knew  
somehow, a familiar phrasing of liquid harmonies. Ian's  
song, his mind provided, the lullaby he'd written ages past.  
Odd that he would remember it here and now.

Here and now, he gradually noticed as he played, consisted  
of a sunny spot on a step in the Park, beside a great bronze  
statue of Alice and her Wonderland companions. Humans  
walked by him as he played, and although he wore his true  
form, not a one paid him heed, save to toss an occasional  
coin his way. He broke away from his flute long enough to  
laugh, but the music called him back to continue.

He finished the lullaby with a drawn-out trill that jazzed  
it up a bit. He doubted Ian would mind. There was  
applause, from one set of hands, very slow and deliberate.  
He looked up.

"My Lord!"

"Puck." Oberon inclined his head. Sunlight glimmered on  
his snow-white locks. The sky above them paled in jealousy  
at the perfect blue of his face.

Puck made obeisance to his king, then asked, "To what do I  
owe this honor, Lord?"

"Rise, Child." He did as commanded. "We have been watching  
you during your banishment. Time has passed."

"Two years, sir."

"We believe you have learned your lesson, that you have  
suffered sufficiently. He extended his hand. "Come home,  
my dearest child."

He floated upwards, took Oberon's hand. "Lord? Do you mean  
it truly?"

Oberon smiled benignly. "Do we ever go back on our word?"

Puck decided "Yes" would not be an appropriate answer at the  
time, and anyway he didn't care. Oberon had come for him,  
was offering him a chance at regaining his life, his powers,  
his homeland.

"What do you ask in exchange for this great gift?"

"Only your word that you will never again betray us."

Puck knelt. "You have that word, Sire." Then, as he had  
when he was a tiny boy, he flew into his father's arms and  
wrapped his own around the beloved neck.

He grasped only shadows. His eyes flew open. Oberon was  
gone; he stood alone. Passers-by stared at him, hurrying  
past in whispers as he turned his gaze to them.

"Oberon! My Lord, where did you go?" His shouts were small  
to his own ears. Although his mouth opened, he barely  
squeaked the words. A human child, a male, pointed at him  
and laughed. He ignored it. "Oberon! Father! Please  
don't leave me here."

Surely the humans in the Park saw nothing but a lunatic,  
weeping on his stair. In an instant, he saw himself as from  
afar, a pathetic little figure in outrageous garb with a  
penny-whistle in his trembling fingers. They thought him  
insane, or drunk, and one of them would point him out to a  
wandering police officer.

He fell back to his knees. "Oberon ... "

There was no answer. There would never be one. Oberon had  
left him, would not welcome him back home. His father hated  
him.

Owen opened his eyes and stared at his ceiling. The dream  
had faded into consciousness so gradually that he lay still,  
uncertain what was dream and what reality. The bed remained  
firm beneath him, the ceiling reassuringly stable above him.  
It was also slightly out of focus. He reminded himself to  
choose a pattern with perfect sight the next time he took a  
human's form, then fumbled for his glasses.

He rolled over, was immediately prevented from this maneuver  
by his left fist, which stubbornly stayed put. With an  
effort, he lifted it.

This was his reality. He was banished from his home, his  
eyes bad, his hand stone, his body decaying around him like  
a human's (although he was already thinking of a few ways to  
get by that problem). There was no flute, and there would  
be no reconciliation.

But it had felt so real.

It was still well before dawn, gargoyle hours. He decided  
to rise anyway, although the tense atmosphere around the  
castle since Lexington and Nashville's television debut had  
not yet abated. Nashville, restricted to Wyvern for the  
next few weeks, stalked the corridors like an irate ghost,  
and Lexington had retreated back to his comrades on Floor  
47. Detective Maza had come to Mr. Xanatos with her  
brother's decline on their offer, and had been avoiding the  
castle since. Goliath's mood had degenerated with her  
absence. Broadway was spending much time in the Labyrinth,  
whether any of the clan admitted that was his location, and  
when he was home, he sulked for his absent mate. This left  
patrol and kitchen duties to fall on Goliath, Hudson,  
Brooklyn and Katana, none of whom seemed to be talking with  
one another most than strictly necessary.

Normally, he would have simply avoided the winged denizens  
of the castle in favor of the ostensibly human residents.  
Sadly, they were currently no better company. Since her  
father's death and mother's abrupt departure, Fox was  
spending her time with Alexander. At first, she'd barely  
spoken. Even now, she was more silent and thoughtful than  
he'd ever possibly expected from the wild child she had been  
the day they'd met. Mr. Xanatos although as of late his  
human master was cajoling Owen to call him by his given  
name, Owen politely but firmly refused was caught neatly  
between trying to be available for his wife's grieving  
process and trying to manage his corporate empire. Owen  
aided him as was his duty. With a familiar pride, and  
without any magic charms, he routinely knew his master's  
desires and gave the proper orders down the management chain  
that they should be fulfilled.

Just as he had done for Oberon.

Hot water took an age to crawl through the pipes to his  
quarters; he stepped into the icy stream anyway. Freezing  
cold drops, small and sharp as spider teeth, bit into his  
too-human body

His Lord would not come back for him. If he chose to go to  
Avalon with Fox, he might be allowed to present his  
evidence, and he might be killed outright, but he had no  
illusions Oberon would greet him with arms outstretched.  
When Katharine died and Angela returned, he would have to  
make his decision: stay here, and let the Three get away  
with murder, or go and face his father's wrath.

Gradually, like Spring waking after an overlong Winter, the  
water gurgled warm and then gloriously hot, bestowing life  
and feeling to his numb flesh.

_Birth, and baptism, washing before ritual, cleansing the  
dead before burial,_ he thought beneath the divine torrent.  
_No wonder they have so many stories of floods. There is  
rebirth in every sip of water, forgiveness in every storm._  
Water lapped around his ankles, and giggled down the drain.

_In the name of the water then. May Katharine live  
centuries._ But he knew that too was a wistful dream.

VVVVV  
April  
VVVVV

The initial part of the meeting had droned by with minutes,  
dues, bland reports from other sections of the club in other  
cities. The members grumbled as the head speaker told them  
of the setbacks their fellows had endured, the opposition  
they were still meeting from their own government. ("Damn  
Democrats," someone he thought was named Jim said, and  
someone else shushed him.) Now the meeting had taken a  
break for cookies and punch and coffee.

The observer watched them, himself unseen, as the men and  
women gathered in this almost bare room munched their  
Walmart cookies and complained about their kids, the mayor,  
and the artificial creamer. The observer smiled grimly.  
Nowhere was evil more insidious than in the hearts of  
normal, happy humans who might have been at a PTA meeting.

"My brothers," said the speaker. He added in afterthought,  
"And sisters." Every head in the room turned to see him, a  
good-looking blonde man, perhaps thirty, perhaps older. His  
face was young, but his eyes were old for a human, like one  
who had seen too much too soon.

"We come together tonight for our most important reason."  
He brushed the symbol on his breast, the stylized Q with the  
hammer and three claw marks. His audience touched the  
symbols on their own uniforms, some with smiles, some with  
grimness.

"Our enemy has dared to show his face."

_**click **_

The television showed two males, Lexington and one calling  
himself Nashville, talking with Travis Marshall. Lex made a  
gesture, and Castaway froze the image, capturing the  
gargoyle in a pose as though he were going to strike the  
reporter.

"After their reign of terror in our city, they come forward  
and ask for peace? For acceptance?" He growled. "We do  
not accept monsters in our midst."

The unseen observer moved deeper into his shadowed perch,  
just in case, as the audience muttered their approval of  
Castaway's words.

"I have known for some time that these monsters were in our  
city, and now I have the proof. We must root them out and  
destroy them, before they annihilate us. It is a matter of  
survival. All those with me say 'Aye!'"

The audience eagerly bellowed "AYE!"

"Actions speak louder than words, my brethren. Find the  
gargoyles. Make them pay."

The meeting ended, the members slipped out of the rented  
room one at a time. A few stayed to help clean up the paper  
cups and napkins, and these too left. Alone, Castaway  
watched his video tape again.

The observer, finally assured they were unaccompanied by  
other Quarrymen, studied Castaway as he studied the tape.  
_Twisted little man,_ he decided. _Useful._

He cleared his throat. Castaway spun, and backed into a  
table. Seconds later, a pistol was out and pointed at the  
intruder. Who already had a weapon pointed at him.

"If you kill me, you prove me right," hissed Castaway.

He laughed. "I have no intention of killing you. For now.  
Put down your weapon, and I give you my word, I will do you  
no harm tonight."

"Gargoyles are demons and liars."

"I have no issue with that statement."

"But you ... "

"You will discover, Mr. Castaway, that I am no ordinary  
gargoyle. And I have no ordinary purpose. You and I could  
do each other ... favors. You want to destroy Goliath and  
his clan. I have no love for them, so I see no point in  
stopping you. You want to kill Demona. I know the secret  
to her immortality." The human's eyes widened. "You see, I  
can be quite useful."

Castaway made a gasping laugh. "And I'm supposed to believe  
you? What do you want?"

He shrugged. "Wealth. Power. The usual terms. For the  
moment, I will settle for the return of something Goliath  
stole from me. I have resources, you have manpower. We can  
combine them and achieve all our goals."

"Ally myself with a gargoyle?"

"Or die at the hands of one. It's really your choice."

Castaway set his pistol on the table behind him, then folded  
his arms. "Let's hear your terms, gargoyle."

"First, you will not refer to me by my regrettable race.  
You may call me Thailog."

VVVVV

They had just done a loop of Harlem. Nothing out of the  
ordinary had jumped to their attention, so they headed back  
towards the castle, to check in, grab a bite, then maybe  
patrol the Bronx the rest of the night.

Anything was better than going home.

Brooklyn stole a glance at his mate. "Penny," he said after  
a while, when she still had not spoken.

"You do not carry coins."

"Then I'll owe you."

"What will we do with Nashville?"

_Thought so._ "Do?"

"He has become willful. He is sullen. He used to be such a  
happy hatchling." Katana sighed deeply; Brooklyn heard her  
even over the whoosh of air past his wings.

"I know." Truth was, the change had happened over day, it  
seemed. One night, Nash had been a gregarious child, ready  
to play with his sister or fight off unexpected attacks.  
The next night, he'd become a moody adolescent with no  
interest in anything other than his music and arguing with  
anything his parents said. _Right after we danced away from  
Wyvern,_ Brooklyn thought guiltily. They all had nightmares  
from that, except Tachi, who was still too young to  
understand what had happened, what they had done.

They'd been asleep during the Viking attack, as before, as  
always. Brooklyn had ordered 'Tana to keep the kids in  
their hiding place while he had gone out, after. Nash had  
followed him anyway, had seen the rubble that had once been  
a clan, seen his father weeping like a hatchling for a past  
no one could change.

No wonder the kid was messed up now. He'd been raised,  
mainly, in the future, where peace had been achieved at a  
price. He'd seen the past, the darkest night of Brooklyn's  
life, seen the horror of what happened when the species did  
not coexist peacefully. Of course he'd gone in front of a  
camera a week ago. He wanted to make friends, now, before  
it was too late.

His mate began, "Perhaps if we ... " Shouts came from  
below, and they took cover.

"I can't see anything," he said, shadowed by her wing.

"Sh. I can see. Nine, no, ten Quarrymen." Her eyes  
narrowed. "Attacking a gargoyle and a human with him."

"I think we need to even up the math," said Brooklyn. They  
took hands and dove into the fray.

One Quarryman was already on the ground, clutching his  
stomach by the time they reached the fight. Brooklyn landed  
on one, 'Tana on another. That made seven. One looked at  
the new gargoyles, at his fellows, and bolted. Six to go.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" remarked Griff, as he  
punched another Quarryman into a second. Both went  
sprawling, and were bright enough not to rejoin them.

One of the remaining Quarrymen got in a blow to Brooklyn's  
back. As he fell, he snaked his tail around the man's legs  
and pulled him to the ground. Two punches later, and they  
were down to three.

Katana pulled her blades from behind her and brandished them  
at another attacker.

"You don't scare me, monster," he snarled at her. His head  
made a sharp crack when Excalibur came down on the back of  
it, and he fell.

"My lady," said King Arthur, making a short bow to her. She  
inclined her head, and both turned to face the final two,  
swords raised. The pair looked at each other, and attacked  
anyway. As both fell moments later, Brooklyn mused that  
hadn't been a bright career move.

"Are you both okay?" he asked.

Arthur rubbed his left arm, where blood was already soaking  
through his shirt. Griff sported a few bruises and was  
favoring his right leg. "We'll manage," the other gargoyle  
said.

Arthur nodded to Katana. "Our thanks to you both." Griff's  
eyes went to Brooklyn and he tilted his head.

"Oh. Right. Honey, this is Arthur Pendragon and Sir Griff.  
Guys, this is my mate, Katana."

"A pleasure," Arthur said gravely.

"You should come back to the castle," said Katana. "This is  
not a safe place for gargoyles or our friends."

"So we see," said Griff.

Brooklyn asked him, "Can you fly?"

"Me? I think so. Can one of you carry the king?"

Brooklyn kind of bowed, then said, "Your Majesty, hang on."  
Arthur wrapped his good arm around Brooklyn's neck as they  
climbed the nearest building, and then held on as they  
glided back towards the castle.

VVVVV 


	2. Chapter 2

VVVVV  
Consequences Part Five: Lady and Tiger (2/3)  
a Gargoyles story  
by Merlin Missy  
Copyright 2001, 2005  
PG-13  
VVVVV

"Damn Phoenix Gate," Griff said morosely, as they waited for  
the doctor to come upstairs. "That thing messes up more  
lives."

"You got that right," Brooklyn agreed. "But I'm not  
complaining. I love 'Tana and the kids like crazy."

Arthur mused, "You are like us. Lost in time."

"Naw. Found."

The door opened, and Dr. Howard came into the examining  
room. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of them, but  
that was all.

"Who's the most seriously injured?" she asked. Griff and  
Brooklyn pointed to Arthur, who shrugged. "Splendid.  
Species?"

"Excuse me?"

"Species." She rolled her eyes and turned to Brooklyn. "Is  
he human?"

"Far as I know."

"Fine. Let me see your arm." Arthur held up his wound.  
"You didn't even clean this before you came here, did you?  
Are you allergic to any antibiotics?"

"Ann tie ... ?"

"Probably not," Brooklyn said. "If he is, we'll find out  
soon enough."

"Does he have any other allergies?" Dr. Howard asked  
Brooklyn. "Iron or sunlight, for random example?"

"I'm not a damned fairy," Arthur snapped, and pulled his arm  
away. "Or a gargoyle."

"Oh," Brooklyn said. "I wouldn't use the phrase 'damned  
fairy' around the castle much if I were you, your Majesty."

Dr. Howard mouthed: "Majesty?"

"I can refrain. What on earth are you doing, woman?"

"Cleaning your wound. You're going to have an infection no  
matter what. Who were you fighting?"

Griff said, "Some concerned citizens objecting to my  
continued existence."

"Those idiots again?" She muttered something under her  
breath and Arthur squirmed as she swabbed the last of the  
tender flesh clean. "It's a long cut, but not deep. I'll  
give you a few stitches and a covering."

She pulled a hypodermic from her bag, and Brooklyn winced in  
sympathy as she slipped the needle into the king's arm.

As soon as the local took effect, Dr. Howard began stitching  
the skin back together. Brooklyn massaged his back; the  
good thing was, he didn't actually need much treatment. By  
the next night, he'd be fine. He'd come more to keep their  
new guests company. And to avoid dealing with his son just  
now.

"So what brings you two to New York?"

"We had a lead in New Jersey and thought we'd drop by," said  
Griff.

"Any sign of Merlin?" Dr. Howard tilted her head, but said  
nothing as she continued her work.

"Not yet, I'm afraid," said Arthur. "We've followed  
stories, but all led to trails centuries dead."

"Have you tried looking in a tree in a cave under  
Stonehenge?" the doctor said. Griff and Arthur stared at  
her.

"Madame, I do not know what you mean," Arthur said stiffly.

"You're looking for Merlin. The old bearded guy who got  
stuck in a tree in a crystal cave under Stonehenge, who's  
gonna rise up on the last day and make you all avatars of a  
new age, right?" Ridicule was in her eyes, but her tone was  
calm.

Griff admitted, "Something like that."

Dr. Howard make a snorting noise. "No one normal ever comes  
here. Ever."

VVVVV

"Thank you for your generous donation, Mr. Dracon," said  
Castaway over the phone. He picked up the newest pamphlets  
they'd printed. "The money is going directly towards our  
education fund. No, we're not tax-deductible yet, but we're  
looking into the matter. Of course I'll send you some. A  
whole crate. You can pass them out to your ... I see,  
well, we can't all be in the limelight for the cause. I  
will. Thank you. Have a nice evening." He hung up the  
phone.

Thailog looked around the sparse office with little  
approval. When he and Demona had incorporated Nightstone  
Unlimited, he'd dreamed of a penthouse suite overlooking the  
city, not this hole in the wall that smelled of mouse  
droppings.

_Baby steps._

"What do you think?" asked Castaway, showing him the  
pamphlet.

"Not bad," he admitted. "Where did you get the photograph  
of Goliath?"

"Nightly news," Castaway replied with a secretive smirk.

His "father" was caught in an impressive snarl, face gone  
dark with malice. The pamphlet, "The Winged Threat," was  
straight out of the Klan's heyday, with a few tweaks to fit  
the "gargoyle menace." Thailog wondered if Castaway even  
knew how close his propaganda was to the rest of the  
hatemongering at which his species was so adept. He glanced  
through it again.

Disease, check. Violence against normal people, check.  
Threats to women and children, check. Mention of the  
"natural order of things," biblical quotes taken well out of  
cultural context, double check. "I see you've covered all  
the bases."

"I've got ten thousand printed, and as soon as Dracon's  
check clears, we'll have triple that in the next run. Our  
people will put these everywhere in the city."

"You don't think this is all rather ... " he floundered for  
the word. "Pointless" would get him killed, and  
"intellectual" graced the tripe in his hand with far more  
dignity than it deserved. He hazarded, "Impersonal?"

"Oh, we're stepping up the foot campaign," Castaway said,  
and chuckled at his weak joke. "Our people are engaging in  
a proactive crusade. We're taking the fight to the  
monsters, getting them before they can get us."

A sorrowful look came into his mad eyes. "Just last night,  
a brave group of our members defended themselves against two  
of this city's resident pests and a gargoyle we haven't seen  
before. Five of them had to be treated for their injuries,  
and two resigned their hoods and hammers."

"Tell me," Thailog mused. "What would your people say if  
they knew I was helping you?"

"They'd be confused, but I'd explain to them that you are a  
fifth columnist." He chuckled again. "Well, I'd simplify  
it for them. They're not so bright sometimes, but they've  
got their hearts in the right places."

_Their brains are another story,_ Thailog thought but wisely  
refrained from saying.

"What about," Thailog read, "'The only good gargoyle is a  
dead gargoyle?'"

"Oh, that doesn't include you! You worry far too much."

Castaway smiled again, the wide smile of those who built  
solid walls of their own insanity so tall and strong that  
from a distance, they looked like fortresses of faith.

From where Thailog stood, he could see the fingerpaint on  
the walls, and knew his partnership with Castaway would be  
short-termed. He would get what he wanted, the rightful  
return of the clan he'd bought and paid for, and then  
Castaway would discover just what kind of menace a gargoyle  
could be.

VVVVV

Elisa had once been easily surprised. This was no longer  
the case. She was unsurprised to see the rise in anti-  
gargoyle propaganda after Lex and Nash had their little  
interview. She was even unsurprised to turn on the  
television one night to see her love give a short interview  
to the same reporter the boys had, no doubt an interview  
orchestrated by Xanatos, forcing her to wonder again what  
his angle was. She was not surprised that Goliath had not  
come to her apartment since; he was very concerned that  
someone might follow him and find her.

So when she finally broke down and went by the castle to see  
him, she was not entirely surprised to find King Arthur at  
the dinner table with the clan, telling more stories of his  
adventures with Griff the gargoyle knight.

_Isn't like it's the first time,_ she thought, and joined  
them to hear the end of a story.

" ... And then we dropped the net. I had to call the police  
myself," said Griff.

"I would have reawakened eventually."

"Not before the blokes got free."

"Too true," the king admitted. Elisa spied Nashville's  
quick smile. The kid wasn't taking well to being grounded,  
but at least this was a change in the normal routine.

"No sign of the bearded guy?" Elisa asked.

Arthur shook his head. "I have not surrendered all hope  
yet. Our contact in New Jersey may have seen him years  
ago."

"May?" asked Brooklyn.

Griff shrugged his broad shoulders. "A lead is a lead."

"We are actually considering returning to our initial plan,"  
said Arthur.

"Avalon Express," explained Griff. Elisa and Goliath shared  
a shudder.

"You kids have fun," she said.

"Actually, Detective," said Griff. "There's another reason  
we came by."

"When last we came here," said Arthur, taking the cue from  
his knight, "I extended an offer to your associate."

"Matt." She remembered how excited he had been, how he had  
only refused with reluctance.

"Yes. As we were in the area, we thought, perhaps ... "

Griff said, "We need a guide, somebody who knows this time  
better than we do. And you told us he was a dab hand in a  
fight."

"We would ask one of your clan," said Arthur to Goliath.  
"But you need all of your warriors."

"Especially now," said Brooklyn, and Nash blenched.

"I can ask him," Elisa ventured. "I won't guarantee  
anything." _Because you know, Matt hasn't said like a  
million times that he kind of wishes he'd said yes._ "I'll  
go call him," she said, and slipped from Goliath's arm to  
the living room.

As her hand touched the phone, she paused. Matt _would_  
jump at the chance, even though Arthur and Griff had just  
said they were going the World Tour route. He might not be  
back for years, or ever. And she'd miss him.

She could say she'd called, and not do it, tell them he'd  
said no, and just hope the guys didn't mention it around  
him.

But it wasn't her choice. It was Matt's life, and Matt's  
decision.

She started to dial.

VVVVV

"You have to do it," said Elisa, simply.

"I don't _have_ to do anything," Talon snapped. He turned  
from her. Brent and Banky were in the opposite corner of  
the room, learning to sew under Maggie's patient gaze. All  
three were affecting to ignore Talon and his sister as they  
fought.

"Anyway," he said, "I thought you didn't trust him, either."

"I don't. But I can't afford to let my distrust affect what  
could be your best chance, Daniel's best chance. And what  
about Claw? Have you even told him or Fang yet?"

"No." He'd intended to, but it had been weeks now. "_I'll_  
decide what's best for us."

"That's not fair to them. I know Maggie will probably side  
with you." Maggie's eyes flashed from the other end of the  
room, but she said nothing. "Daniel is too young to say  
what he wants, but at least give Claw the option."

"I don't get you. One day Xanatos is a monster, the next  
he's an ally. You wanted me to trust Burnett with Daniel's  
life," he said very quietly that the others wouldn't hear.

"And Daniel's fine now."

Talon kept his mouth closed. Elisa didn't know the cost,  
didn't know how he'd kept watch over 'Lilah ever since,  
always having to know where she was, what she was doing,  
lest his disregard fulfill the terms of his bargain with  
Death.

"Derek."

"If I say yes, and this is a trap, what then?"

"Then you can remind me of it every day for the rest of our  
lives. And if it works, then you can take me out to dinner  
at some swanky restaurant downtown to say thank you."

"If this works, I'll do that."

"Oh, hey," she said, wiping at her eyes before the others  
saw and suspected she wasn't as tough as she wanted them to  
think. "Matt says good-bye and good luck."

Talon blinked. "Where's he going?"

"If I told you he left just after sunset on a boat with King  
Arthur and a gargoyle, hell bent on a quest for Merlin,  
would you believe me?"

He considered it. "If it were anyone but you, no."

VVVVV  
May  
VVVVV

Elisa had volunteered to bring them in the Fairlane, but  
Derek had insisted they fly so that Xanatos couldn't trap  
them on the ground. Elisa counted herself lucky to have  
convinced him to come at all, and hadn't pushed it. Maggie  
was too preoccupied with thoughts of getting herself and  
Daniel ready for the transformation that she didn't bother  
arguing over how they were going to get to the castle. Fang  
had been offered his chance at humanity, and had declined,  
saying simply, "I gotta be me." It was true that he'd  
objected least to the initial transformation, but Elisa was  
still a bit startled to hear that he didn't even want to try  
going back. As usual, Claw had nothing to say on the  
matter.

As such, Elisa found herself watching the sky just after  
dusk, hoping to all that was good that none of the Quarrymen  
were stargazing. The clan had wakened fifteen minutes  
before, and all but Goliath were puttering around in the  
kitchen to scrounge up something to eat. Elisa hadn't been  
able to eat all day, and what sleep she'd managed had been  
filled with odd dreams that she couldn't quite recall upon  
rising bleary-eyed that afternoon.

Goliath, of course, looked in his prime. As he perched on  
the ledge, looking for any sign of the Mutates, she let her  
eyes wander over him as if for the first time, trying to see  
what these others saw and feared in him.

Was it his sharp talons, that could dig into solid stone, or  
rend steel apart like paper, or turn a delicate page in a  
centuries-old book without harm, or send shivers to the core  
of her soul with their tips? Maybe his power-filled wings  
frightened them, with the muscles beneath willing them to  
catch the merest breath of wind, or hurl him towards an  
enemy like some avenging angel, or wrap her in a close  
embrace the likes of which she could never have before  
imagined.

No?

Perhaps his eyes, then, which saw unjustness and dared to  
oppose it, or his lips, which always spoke the simple truth  
or pressed tenderly against her own until they filled with  
fire. Was it the monstrous face, that craggy visage that  
bespoke of the rock it became by day, that same face which  
lit up with heavenly smiles when he read to her, or when she  
showed him some new delight of her world? She easily  
remembered her first view of him, her terror, but for the  
life of her, she couldn't see how she might have ever looked  
upon him as anything but the most beautiful being she'd ever  
seen.

As if feeling her gaze, he turned, a question in his eyes.  
Instead of answering, she stepped beside him and took his  
powerful lavender-grey hand in her own, and lightly traced  
the lines in his palm with her fingernail. He gasped and  
jerked, but only minutely, not tugging his hand out of her  
grasp.

"Elisa," he rumbled, "what are you doing?" There was just  
enough of a catch to his voice to make her smile. She  
mentally catalogued the reaction to be used later, when they  
had time.

"Nothing," she said. She stopped her tracing to take his  
hand in both of hers and place it gently against her heart.

His eyes widened, and then he graced her with one of those  
rare, gorgeous smiles of his. She had no idea what to say  
or do next, had no thoughts but perhaps to steal away for a  
while tonight, had no memory whatsoever of the fact that her  
brother and his family were due to arrive at any moment.

Which they did.

Derek cleared his throat audibly as he glided to them and  
lightly set down, Daniel firmly in his arms. Maggie and  
Claw, both wearing large smirks, joined him.

"We can come back," said Maggie, and Elisa saw the mirth  
written on her face.

Goliath looked mortified, and Elisa only stopped the same  
reaction from showing on her own face by a firm resolution.  
They hadn't been doing anything. Yet. "It's about time you  
showed up. We were getting worried. Kinda hard to start a  
party without the guests of honor."

"Speaking of which," said Derek, looking around. "Where is  
everyone?"

"Downstairs. Mom and Dad are on their way." She took the  
opportunity to kiss Daniel on his head. He squirmed, then  
looked up at her, his eyes wide slits in the darkness. _By  
morning,_ she thought. _By morning, you're going to be a  
real little boy, and we're going to take you shopping for  
clothes and toys and we're going to walk down Fifth Avenue  
together and I'm going to buy you a chocolate ice cream  
cone._ Instead of speaking the words and perhaps breaking  
her own heart in the process of saying them, she said only,  
"Hi kid."

He gurgled something that could have been taken as "Hi Aunt  
Elisa," presuming one had a very active imagination and was  
mostly deaf. Under those same conditions, however, one  
might also have thought Daniel was making a valiant effort  
to say "Parliament."

"Perhaps we should go to the laboratory," suggested Goliath.

Derek tensed. "Why can't we do it up here?"

Elisa had been afraid of this. "The doctors can monitor you  
better down in the lab. If anything goes wrong, they'll be  
able to deal with it before there's a problem."

"And if he tries to keep us there when it's done?" There  
was no doubt as to which "he" Derek meant.

"He won't," said Goliath, which surprised her. She had  
thought Goliath harbored suspicions of his own about  
Xanatos. "He will act honorably towards you. I swear."  
Derek met his eyes, indecision still upmost in them. Trust  
Goliath with his family? Have a chance at being human? Or  
fly back home and hide beneath the city streets?

The moment passed. Derek looked at Maggie. She reached out  
for her son, and when she had him in her arms, said merely,  
"Daniel and I are going downstairs." Claw nodded twice.

"Then I guess we'd better get downstairs," Derek said, and  
led the way himself.

VVVVV

Owen brought her parents up to the lab as soon as they  
arrived. They had taken her advice about being civil to  
him, even if they didn't fully understand why they should.  
As a result, he wasn't scowling as much as he normally did  
when in the same room as any of her family members. She  
decided to call it progress and leave it at that.

Drs. FitzMartin and Sarasvati were hunched over their  
workspace, muttering techspeak to one another. Lex stood  
near them, tapping at the computer's one keyboard and  
frowning. Elisa caught a few phrases: "antigen binder,"  
"rejection inhibitor." Most of the talk was way over her  
head. She had to trust that they knew what they were doing.  
Hearing Sarasvati's "Oops" did not help her peace of mind at  
all.

Broadway was back in the Labyrinth, ostensibly to guard  
Fang, but really to keep an eye on the clones, who had also  
been left behind. There wouldn't have been space for them  
in the lab anyway; the room was already getting a little  
heady with four mutates, six humans, a gaggle of gargoyles,  
and three ... whatever the politically correct term was for  
fairies this week. The strange atmosphere in the room was  
increased tenfold with anticipation. Elisa could feel it,  
could taste it, and only the pressure of Goliath's hands on  
her shoulders kept her from leaping out of her skin.

She could sense the nervous energy in the others, although  
everyone showed it differently. Her father held Daniel,  
while her mother fussed at taming the baby's frizzy gold  
hair. Tachi held Alex's hand, and was telling him about  
Daniel:

"This is Daniel, an' he's really small, an' sometimes I get  
to hold him but you're too little so only I can."

"Okay."

Dr. Sarasvati's head raised at the mention of the baby's  
name. He broke off from his work and cautiously approached  
her parents. "Hello," he said quietly to the child. "Your  
name is Daniel?"

The baby stared at him, sucking on one furry fist.

Sarasvati smiled. "That's my name, too." Elisa wasn't sure  
if her nephew actually understood him, but he pulled his  
fist from his mouth and babbled something that sounded like  
his own name.

FitzMartin said, "We could use your help here." Sarasvati  
smiled at Daniel one more time, and rejoined his partner.

Fox went to Tachi and Alex, and coaxed them out of the room  
with promises of peanut butter. Hudson talked quietly with  
Maggie about maybe acquiring a few more books for the  
clones, but it was obvious neither of them were thinking  
about Thomas the Tank Engine.

The two doctors turned as one to Xanatos. "We're ready,"  
said FitzMartin.

"Thank you, Henry." He indicated the hospital bed. "Who's  
first?"

Derek touched Maggie on the shoulder, saying nothing with  
words and everything with his eyes. If Elisa had ever any  
reason to doubt the love between them, those doubts were  
dispelled for good by the emotion in her brother's gaze.  
Then he turned towards the bed.

Claw blocked his path.

"It'll be okay, pal," Derek said. "We'll all be human again  
in a few hours."

Claw shook his head. He pointed to himself and then to the  
awaiting doctors.

"No, Claw. I'm going first. I have to make certain nothing  
will go wrong." His last remark was aimed directly at  
Xanatos, who met it impassively.

Claw shook his head again, vigorously this time. He touched  
Derek's chest, then pointed at Maggie and Daniel. Then he  
pointed directly at Maggie, and indicated Daniel and Derek.  
Lastly, he pointed to himself again, then shrugged.

Derek shook his own head, as if trying to block out the  
truth before him. "Forget it, Claw."

The other mutate, realizing his pantomime wouldn't work,  
switched to ASL. Elisa didn't understand completely, but  
she knew enough.

_I don't have anything to lose. You two have each other and  
the baby. I die, there's one less Mutate in the world. You  
die, and the rest of them mourn you for years._ He shrugged  
again.

Derek bowed his head. Elisa could feel him fighting for  
some kind of control over his life, some means of taking  
back a small bit of what had been lost. He had been  
overruled at almost every step in the process, and now it  
looked as if he was going to lose this chance at controlling  
his destiny, too. She felt for him, yet she knew Claw was  
right.

As did Derek. He returned to Maggie's side and took her  
hand, clutching to it like a drowning man might clutch a  
slender branch along a river bank.

Claw sat down on the bed. FitzMartin and Sarasvati  
exchanged glances, then set to work. The younger man  
started an i.v. drip into a vein on Claw's arm, while the  
elder set up a monitor for his vital signs.

At a nod, Sarasvati injected something into the i.v. bag, a  
bluish solution that spread like a mist through the clear  
saline, leaving it the milky color of a robin's egg. Claw  
closed his eyes. The blue solution slowly filtered down  
from the bag to his arm, and into his bloodstream.  
FitzMartin and Sarasvati kept a careful eye on the screen,  
watching blood pressure, heart rate, and Heaven knew what  
else.

Claw spasmed. Derek's arm shot out and grabbed Xanatos by  
the neck. "What's happening to him!" Out of the corner of  
her eye, she saw Owen and Fox tense, and knew that she had  
to defuse this now.

"Derek, this is what happened before. It's all right."

The doctors, on the other hand, seemed somewhat nervous, but  
not especially concerned. FitzMartin said over his  
shoulder, "We expected this. He's fine," and went back to  
work.

Derek relaxed his grip. "He'd better be."

"Maybe we should wait outside," suggested Mom. "We're all  
probably in the way of these good doctors." She touched  
Derek. "Besides, we could use some fresh air."

"I'm not leaving Claw alone," he replied.

"We'll stay," offered Brooklyn, indicating himself and his  
mate. "We won't let them do anything. When you feel like  
it, you can come in and wait, and we'll go out."

"I'll stay," he said simply. "The rest of you should  
probably leave. But I'm staying here." There was no more  
argument.

VVVVV

An hour passed. Elisa walked between rooms: the lab on  
Floor 47 with Derek, the doctors, and Claw, the living room  
where the rest of the family waited. "No word," she'd told  
them, again and again. No word. No word.

Time ticked by. Schrodinger had changed in a matter of  
minutes. Claw was never going to change. The  
transformation had been a trick, or else something that  
would only work on rats, and the cure was just another  
illusion. Elisa saw the same thoughts on her brother's  
face, as hope faded slowly with every minute.

And then, as she stood by Claw's bedside once more, she saw  
what she could not before: a twitch in the wings that was  
not the voluntary movement of muscles, but their  
contraction. Her head shot up to meet Derek's face.

"Did you see that?"

He nodded. FitzMartin came over, pulled out a tape measure,  
placed it against Claw's wings. Claw jerked at the touch,  
then lay still. He had not gestured since the procedure's  
start.

"Decrease in wing span at time 2127 hours EST, seven point  
three centimeters. Decrease began at approximately 2115  
hours EST." He looked up at Derek. "I think this may  
work."

Elisa took her brother's hand, squeezed it without words,  
and dashed out to the elevator to spread the good news.

VVVVV

By one am, Claw's wings had receded into his spine, which  
had been painful enough to warrant his being put under  
anesthesia for the remainder of his transformation. He'd  
shed his pelt, and the sharp claws for which he'd been named  
had fallen out, leaving raw places where his fingernails  
would eventually grow back. He was still powerfully  
muscular in a distinctly feline way, but even as he slept,  
Elisa could see his muscle structure altering under his  
skin.

She felt ill.

Sarasvati said, after reading the screen for the umpteenth  
time, "He should be fully human within thirty-six hours, but  
he's past the danger point. If he was going to react to the  
drug, he would have already." He let out a deep breath,  
revealing how much stress he'd been under since beginning  
the project. "We won."

Joy swept through the room like a fire. For whatever  
reason, they were going to beat Fate this time! She caught  
Xanatos smiling, and to her shock, there was mist in his  
eyes. He was honestly happy for them. She smiled back at  
him, then hugged her brother.

"Time for Round Two," he said.

FitzMartin asked, "Who's going to go next?"

Derek and Maggie exchanged glances again. "Daniel. From  
what Claw had to go through, it'll be easier on him if he  
sees us as he knows us while he's changing, so he isn't as  
scared."

Maggie set Daniel down on the bed, and the two of them held  
his right hand as the needle was inserted into his left arm.  
He screamed. His parents soothed his as best they could.  
After Sarasvati injected the second solution, he added  
morphine to the drip as he had for Claw. Soon, Daniel's  
eyes began to droop, and he nodded off to sleep. The  
monitor over his heart maintained its steady rhythm.

No one left the room this time. Even Tachi was silent.  
Between yawns, Alex pointed to Daniel and asked his mother,  
"Is baby seepin?"

"Hush, sweetie," said Fox.

FitzMartin occasionally drifted back to the bed where Claw  
lay, checking his signs, making sure his metamorphosis was  
progressing. Lexington and Nashville stayed near his bed,  
so that he would have familiar faces nearby if he should  
waken.

After nearly two hours, Maggie asked, "Shouldn't we be  
seeing something by now? Claw was already losing fur by  
this point."

"Since each of you are different, your changes will proceed  
at a different rate," said FitzMartin, but he looked  
concerned. He and Sarasvati continued looking at the  
monitor, then at some notes they'd brought in. Now Elisa  
couldn't follow a word of their conversation, until one of  
them cursed.

"Can all of you please step outside again?"

Derek's head shot up. "Why?"

"We'd like to run a few more tests."

It was Xanatos who asked, "What kind of tests?"

The two looked at each other before Sarasvati answered. "We  
want to get another look at Daniel's genome. To make  
certain the mutation back to human form is proceeding."

"Then we'll stay to watch," said Xanatos, ending the  
discussion. Almost. Something had caught Elisa's ear.

"What do you mean 'back to?' Daniel was never human."

FitzMartin looked at her from where he was collecting a  
small blood sample out of Daniel's other arm. "What." It  
wasn't a question.

Sarasvati grabbed the sample. "The antigen is based on the  
remaining human DNA in the Mutate system." He opened the  
sample, added two drops of _something_, then closed and  
shook it. Then he placed a micropipette into the blood,  
filled it, and popped the pipette into the computer. The  
screen changed to display Daniel's vitals in the bottom  
right corner. Most of the screen was taken up by a strand  
of what Elisa could only guess was DNA, although she really  
wasn't certain. Sarasvati and FitzMartin looked at the  
screen, then at Daniel.

"There's no human DNA in him for the antigen to bind to.  
Was he born _after_ your original mutation?" Maggie nodded;  
Derek simply stared. Sarasvati looked away.

"I'm sorry," said FitzMartin. "We're not going to be able  
to change him into a human if he never was one in the first  
place."

The world went dark. Elisa's knees suddenly couldn't hold  
her; Goliath wrapped his arms around her from behind,  
offering her strength, support, and comfort. But she wasn't  
the one who needed it most.

Maggie's mouth was open. She closed it, and it opened  
again, without a sound escaping. Derek brushed his son's  
forehead. "Can't you try a different treatment? Maybe like  
the one that changed us in the first place?" Hope shone  
madly in his eyes: he had once seen the future bright before  
him, he would not surrender the vision now.

"No," said FitzMartin, sorrow in his voice. "We wouldn't  
even know where to begin. It was next to impossible simply  
to create a serum that would undo what Sevarius already did.  
There's no way _we_ could create another mutagen to turn a  
mutant into a human child. Even if we did, the only means  
we have of testing it would be on the baby himself, and I  
_will_ not do that."

"But," Maggie said, still caught a few moments behind. "It  
was working! It worked on Claw! We're going to be human  
now! All of us!" Hysteria filled her voice. Elisa's  
mother placed her arms around her shoulders, but was  
shrugged off as Maggie turned on Xanatos. "You promised!"

"I'm sorry," he said, and Elisa believed him.

"That's not good enough! My baby is going to be a freak of  
nature for the rest of his life, and you did it!" Her hands  
were in front of her now, crackling with unspent  
electricity. "Fix it!"

Derek stopped her. "Maggie, no." He pulled her around to  
face him. "He can't fix it. Not this time." Bitterness  
swelled in his voice.

"He _has_ to! I want Daniel to live a normal life, to walk  
down the street and play with other kids and ... " She  
collapsed against his chest, her frame wracked with sobbing.  
He held her close, rocking her back and forth, whispering.

When she'd quieted a little, the first storm past, she  
whispered, "Derek, he's going to be a freak forever."

"Not necessarily," was all he said.

The doctors continued monitoring Daniel, but when there was  
no change whatsoever in his system, they disconnected the  
i.v., then the electrodes.

After a while, Daniel opened his eyes blearily, not really  
seeing much of anything. His mother, who had finally  
stopped crying, pulled him into her arms and hugged him. He  
set his head against her shoulder, drifting in and out of  
consciousness as the remains of the morphine moved through  
his system.

Sarasvati checked on Claw again. He was progressing on  
schedule; his front fangs had fallen out, probably to be  
replaced by dentures in the coming days. The doctor came  
back.

"If one of you is ready ... " He looked at Derek  
expectantly.

Rather than answering, Derek went to the cart where the  
other two syringes of the antigen were waiting. He picked  
one up, stared into its sapphire depths as if entranced.  
Then he picked up the other and handed it to Maggie, who had  
to shift Daniel a little to take it.

"The world's inside this thing, love," he said. "One  
injection, a few hours, and we get our lives back. No more  
hiding in the steam tunnels. No more waiting until after  
dark to show our faces. We can go outside again, walk among  
people again. Maybe even get married."

"Yeah," she said in a quiet echo, and kissed Daniel on the  
top of his head. He turned a little but did not awaken.  
She held out the syringe and handed it to Derek. He took it  
from her, held it beside his own. Blue reflected inside  
blue, twin jewels in her brother's hand. He wasn't watching  
them; his eyes were locked with those of the woman he loved.

There were two simultaneous tinkles when the syringes  
shattered on the laboratory floor. In the stillness, they  
were as gunshots.

Elisa watched the blue solution pool on the pristine floor,  
then raised her head to see her brother's eyes transfixed on  
the mess. Grim determination was etched on his face, and a  
pain she could not even hope to imagine.

Eternity passed, and Derek raised his head to Maggie again.  
Voice husky, he said, "I need to be alone for a little  
while. I'll be back." When he saw the uncertainty in her  
eyes, he repeated, "I _will_ be back."

He walked out of the room, not looking at anyone, not  
touching anyone. Elisa wanted to follow him, pull him into  
her arms as she had when they were children, and let him cry  
for all his worth. But she couldn't follow, any more than  
she could have chased the wind.

VVVVV


	3. Chapter 3

VVVVV  
Consequences Part Five: Lady and Tiger (3/3)  
a Gargoyles story  
by Merlin Missy  
Copyright 2001, 2005  
PG-13  
VVVVV

Talon looked down upon the lights of the city. He could  
barely see them from up here, due to the fog and the damned  
tears. His son's face was before him, small and innocent.  
He'd allowed himself to imagine what Daniel would have  
looked like as a human, and now it seemed he would never be.  
He would have to hide away his face, never know what it was  
to spend a day at the park or the zoo, always be alone ...

"Derek? Do you want to talk about it?"

He'd wondered when this would come, although he'd more been  
expecting Elisa, maybe one of the gargoyles.

"I don't think I can." He closed his eyes, felt the brush  
of an arm against his, leaning on the edge of the parapet  
beside him.

His father said, "Then let me see if I can do it for you. The day  
Daniel was born, you picked him up and held him against you.  
You saw him open his eyes and stare at you, wondering who you  
were and what you were going to mean to him, and at that moment,  
you knew you would gladly trade your soul to make him smile  
at you even once. And because he was who and what he was,  
you knew the road before him was going to be difficult. You  
promised yourself that he would never be alone on it, that  
you would always be there for him.

"Tonight, you had a chance, a pretty good one, to make  
everything all right. You watched Claw change, and you were  
happy for him, but more than that, you were happy because  
you thought it meant your son would be better in just a  
little more time. You saw him as he was going to be, a  
human with all the world before him, and all this nonsense  
about mutations was going to be just a bad dream. You paid  
attention to every detail of him tonight, committing his  
face as it is now to memory because you hoped it would be  
the last time you'd see him this way, before his  
transformation, and you thought to yourself: even now, he's  
one of the most beautiful things you've ever seen.

"And it didn't work. You realized things weren't going to  
be that easy, and it burned you from inside because you  
finally had to face that no matter how much you try, you're  
not going to be able to make him better. You have nothing  
to offer, nothing to trade, because Fate doesn't make deals,  
and your son is going to have to live with that. You'd like  
to tear Xanatos' head from his shoulders, but you know it  
wouldn't do any good, and that just makes it worse.

"So you're hurting, for Daniel, for Maggie, for yourself.  
You want to do the best by them that you can, and you can't.  
You know what Daniel's life will be like from here, know how  
much pain he'll have to go through from now on because  
tonight didn't work out, know how alone he's going to be.  
You feel like you've failed him, even though there's nothing  
you could have done. You love him, but since life isn't a  
fairy tale, love doesn't conquer all. You can see both his  
faces clearly in your mind, the human and the Mutate, and  
they're looking at you, trusting you to fix it, because  
you're his father, and you can't, and it's killing you.

"Am I close?"

Talon nodded, and allowed the tears to run from his eyes,  
wet his fur. He felt his father's hand on top of his,  
offering comfort if he chose to take it.

"I want to take care of them."

"I know."

"I want to give Maggie the biggest wedding this city has  
ever seen. I want to send Daniel to kindergarten, and  
college, and I want him to find out what it's like to fall  
in love with someone just as wonderful as his mother is. I  
want them to be happy."

"I know."

He lowered his head. "I should be down there with her. She  
needs me to be strong for her."

"No." The quiet assurance made him turn his head, open his  
eyes. "Maggie's stronger than you think. She'd got coiled  
steel in her. She might bend, but she always springs back.  
You don't have to be strong for her. You just have to be  
there, maybe let her be strong for you. That's what  
building a life together means."

"I can't. Not yet." His mind began turning in a new  
direction, one in which he and Maggie and Daniel would still  
be as they were, but better. Happier. "I need to do  
something first." He extended his wings behind him.

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No. I won't be gone long. Tell Maggie I love her for me?"

"Tell her yourself."

Derek smiled, not bitterly. Love meant holding onto the  
handles and running alongside until the bicycle was  
balanced. It also meant letting go and watching, even if  
the bike crashed, because that was the only way anyone  
learned to ride.

Time to learn how to pedal.

"I will. Thanks, Dad." Then, because he did remember when  
it had just been his bike rather than his whole life, and  
because no one else was there to watch, he caught his father  
in a fierce hug, which was returned after only the briefest  
hesitation.

Talon let go, finally. He stepped up to the ledge and  
jumped off, catching the warm May air in his wings. He  
turned back momentarily, saw his father standing there,  
watching him. He remembered the first day at school, the  
first bike ride, the first driving lesson, the Talk,  
recalled the trips with Dad to work, and the Saturdays Dad  
had spent on the bleachers watching his football games, and  
learning how to bait a hook without impaling his fingers,  
and trips to the department store when he and Dad would hide  
among the drill bits while Mom made Elisa and Beth try on  
clothes.

He would find memories to make with Daniel.

Talon dove, pulling in his wings to increase his speed, and  
pulling up when he was still well over most of the  
buildings. He needed to find something, something  
important, and his best bet was the Park. He hovered over  
the tops of the trees for a long while, listening out of  
habit for sounds of untoward actions.

He noticed a young couple taking a stroll below him, arguing  
as they did, and he sighed, wondering if they were crazy or  
just incredibly stupid to be where they were at 4am.  
Against his better judgement, he followed them at a discrete  
distance for a time, until they finally went to their car.

Talon veered back, and spied exactly what he had been  
seeking.

The trip back to the castle seemed longer than his trip  
there had been, even though he knew he was gliding faster.  
He hoped Maggie hadn't taken Claw and Daniel back to the  
Labyrinth already, and then cursed himself for several kinds  
of fool for having left them there with Xanatos. The clan  
was there, certainly, but it wasn't the same.

He descended on the courtyard, and hurried back down to the  
laboratory. The room was empty, and his heart felt sick.  
She thought he had left her, and had gone home.

He walked slowly back up the stairs, then paused, hearing  
noise from the direction of the living room.

His family and the clan were together; Xanatos' people were  
nowhere to be seen. Maggie sat on the couch with his  
mother, Daniel resting on Mom's lap. He didn't see Claw,  
although he suspected he'd been put to bed. Elisa looked up  
when he appeared in the doorway, but he made a gesture to  
keep her quiet.

He crept behind the couch, then placed his hand on Maggie's  
shoulder and began to massage it. She tilted her head back,  
looking up at him upside-down.

"Hi."

"Do me a favor?" he asked.

"What?" She looked mistrustful, and as he'd marched out the  
last time she'd seen him, he supposed he understood why.

He pulled out his other hand, which he'd been hiding under  
one wing, and presented her with the flowers he'd found in  
the Park, moonflowers that bloomed only at night. She took  
them, and stared up at him again in confusion.

"Marry me?"

She tilted her head down again. He felt the entire family  
watching them while trying not to watch, and realized  
belatedly that putting her on the spot like this might not  
be the best way to get her to say ...

"Sure." Her head tilted up again, and her split mouth was  
curled into a wide smile. His heart raced in his ears as he  
tried to comprehend what had just happened. She'd said yes.

Wanting very much to let out a most unsophisticated whoop of  
joy, he contented himself with grinning like a moron and  
saying very simply, "Cool."

Daniel stayed asleep on his Grandma's lap.

VVVVV  
June  
VVVVV

Dear Elisa,

How's things? I'm not too bad. Who am I kidding?  
I'm fantastic! Look at me, Mama Bluestone's little  
boy, off on a quest with King Arthur! How cool is  
that?

As you might tell by the postmark, we're in London  
just now. Guess Avalon thought we had some unfinished  
business here, and I think it was right. Griff's spent  
a lot of time with his pals here, Leo and Una (they  
say hi). I'm guessing she's the unfinished business,  
but don't tell Griff I said so.

And speaking of the whole "long lost brigade." You  
know, as I reread that last line, it sounded a lot  
cooler in my head. Anyway, we've hooked up with some  
friends of yours: Angela's sort-of dad and two of her  
rookery sibs. Okay, so I was probably playing  
Minesweeper when you were telling me how they came  
through with the pregnant posse. They're gonna join  
up with us for a while, see the world, maybe help us  
locate Merlin. I'll keep an eye on them for you.

You know I'm the only one of the group who was born  
this century? Weird.

Well, I miss you and the guys down at the station and  
the clan and everybody. If you don't hear from me  
again, tell my folks I love 'em, and tell everyone  
else the mother ship finally came for me.

Love,

Matt

VVVVV

Elisa folded the letter and put it back in the envelope.  
She stood a minute, tapping her hand with the paper, then  
set it on the hall table she used as a desk.

A few minutes' worth of rummaging found a ragged world map,  
the one she got back in high school to help her with her  
geography class. A lot of the names and borders had  
changed, but the cities stayed where they were.

She had an old, many-punctured cork board from her dorm room  
days. She took down the picture over her hall table, a  
floral thing she'd liked, and put the cork board in its  
place. The map, curling at the edges, covered most of the  
board.

"Pins, pins," she muttered to herself, trying to remember  
where she'd put the few survivors. Eventually, she  
scrounged a handful of clear and multi-colored pushpins from  
the junk drawer in the kitchen and the smelly old bookbag  
that she really needed to toss.

One clear pin for Scotland. One for London. One for  
Prague. She placed them one by one in all the places she'd  
visited, willingly or not. Then she placed a blue pin  
beside the one at London.

_Gonna need more pins,_ Elisa thought, a little sadly, and  
then she set Matt's letter so that it stood below the map.  
_And possibly a filing cabinet._

It was no use moping. She had to get dressed and get down  
to the Labyrinth, so she could watch her baby brother get  
married.

VVVVV

Every horizontal surface in the place had a candle sitting  
on it, making a rosy glow to fill the room. If the smoke  
was a little denser than she might like, it was still  
lovely, giving the place atmosphere. Maggie liked  
atmosphere.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the others gathered,  
standing in various shades of quietness, saw Diane dabbing  
at her eyes discreetly, saw Peter squeezing her shoulder,  
saw Elisa resting just so against Goliath, saw Nashville and  
Tachi beside their parents, neither really paying attention,  
saw Holly and Brent looking up with equal wide stares from  
their seats on the floor, saw Beth a pace away, holding  
Daniel, who had his head against her shoulder, his fingers  
in his mouth.

Just beyond Derek, Claw no, he wanted to be called Toby  
now waited nervously, as if it were he going through this  
and not them. Behind her, she felt 'Lilah's presence, just  
as skittish, but happy, bubbling, joyful.

She wanted to remember every minuscule detail of this moment  
for the rest of her life, knew that she would anyway.  
Someday, they might even make this official and legal, but  
she would hold _this_ ceremony as the One, the time when in  
front of their friends and family, they declared their  
joining of spirits.

Her parents should have been there. She knew that, and  
their absence hurt her as she had not thought it would or  
could. She wanted them to see, and know she had done all  
right with her life, dammit. Despite their every effort,  
she'd found happiness with these people, this man.

Derek took her hands, his eyes going directly into her soul  
as he said, "Maggie, this isn't the life I would give to  
you. If I had my way, we'd be living up there, in a house.  
We'd have a mortgage, and a few cats, and we'd be looking  
into good preschools for Daniel. But we're not up there,  
and we're not going to live in a house, and I can just  
imagine what would happen if we showed up at Headstart with  
the kid. We're probably going to spend the rest of our  
lives like this. Without you, I don't think I could face  
that. When I'm near you, when I see you, the Labyrinth gets  
brighter. When I hear your voice, I can do anything, even  
if that just means getting through another day without  
losing my mind. I wish things could be different. I wish  
those doctors would find a cure for all of us, but whether  
they do or don't, I can face it so long as I'm with you.

"I love you, Maggie. I've loved you since I met you, and  
whatever body either of us wears, I will love you until I  
die."

Now it was her turn. She remembered the words she had  
chosen, watching him sleep three days before.

"Derek, you are the most amazing person I've ever known.  
You make me laugh when I want to cry. You have a strength I  
never understood, only knew that it was there when I needed  
it most. You gave me courage, when I wanted to hide away my  
face from the world, and you gave me love when I thought no  
one could even stand to look at me. You took the three of  
us, and some wounded broken people, and formed a paradise  
out of tossed-out dreams. You said that you wanted to give  
Daniel and me a home, but you've given us something far more  
special. You've given us a family, the first I ever really  
knew. For that alone I can never thank you enough. But  
there's more, so much more. You've given me hope, my love.  
You made me able to dream again, and every dream I have is  
of you and Daniel and all our friends. I don't care if they  
find a cure; if I have you, I am more alive than I could  
ever be without.

"I love you, too, Derek, and I will love you until the end  
of time."

Beth stepped up and handed Daniel to Derek. He stirred and  
looked around, as she placed her hand on his small back.

Derek kissed him on his head. "You, little man, we also  
promise to love our entire lives."

"To watch over you, and take care of you, and when the time  
comes ... " She met Derek's eyes.

"When the time comes, we'll let you find your own way."

"And we'll love you whatever way that might be."

Derek said, "And now, since there's no one to tell me  
otherwise, I'm going to kiss the bride." And he did.

It was a most inopportune time for an explosion.

Derek shoved Daniel full into her arms as the walls of the  
room trembled. "Run!" he shouted, pushing her, and she  
clutched her baby to her, moving instinctively for shelter.

Behind her, the ceiling buckled, and she had time to draw  
breath, but not time to scream, before the tortured stone  
gave way.

Dust choked her, and she huddled against a wall with her in-  
laws and Toby. Broadway stood with them, wings blocking the  
falling debris. He spasmed each time a large rock struck  
him. Beside them, through the dark and the smoke, Maggie  
saw Brooklyn and Katana shielding their kids.

_Please let Derek be okay,_ she prayed as the rockslide  
slowed, and finally stopped.

"Is everyone okay?" Broadway asked, when he could breathe.  
Maggie saw the large cuts and bruises he'd taken for them.

"You're not, monster," said an unfamiliar voice. A  
Quarryman wearing a gas mask stood in front of them with a  
weapon. Before they could move, or even scream, he shot  
Broadway. Behind him, other masked figures moved into what  
had been their largest room, all packing.

Brooklyn growled, and went after the nearest one. Maggie  
felt the electric charge build in her hands, saw tiny  
flashes of light crackle from her son's fingers.

_Time to fight._

VVVVV

Elisa couldn't see. She'd been in the dark before, but this  
was pitch. She felt someone beside her, could sense a  
heartbeat, and she knew that feel, that scent even in her  
deepest dreams.

"Goliath?" She touched him gingerly, then prodded harder  
when he didn't answer. _Okay, that's a shoulder._  
"Goliath?" she called louder.

"Elisa?" said Lex from the darkness. "Are you okay?"

"I can't see. And I think Goliath is on top of my leg. I  
don't think it's broken. You?"

Lex groaned. "Other than feeling like I've swallowed half  
the dirt in the city, I think I'm okay." The sound of his  
voice moved closer to her, and she felt him bump against  
Goliath. "Big guy?"

"I can feel him breathing," said Elisa. "He's alive. I  
guess he got knocked out. What happened?"

"Dunno. There was an explosion, and now we're here."

"Where's here?"

"I think ... I think we must've gotten into a passage." He  
moved more in the darkness. "I feel rocks over here. I  
think we're buried in." He made a half-gagging sound.

"Lex?"

"We're not alone. Whoever this was, they didn't make it all  
the way in." Noises came, from far off.

"That sounded like weapons discharge," said Elisa. She ran  
her hands over Goliath's known and loved form. Her hand  
came away wet from his head. "I think he might have a  
concussion."

"Great."

"Why don't you see how far back this passage goes? Maybe we  
can get out the back way."

"I'll try." She heard him shuffling along in the dark.  
"There's a door here in the back, steel. Um, it's locked."

"Wonderful." She tried shifting position, and pain shot up  
her leg. If Goliath turned to stone while he was laying on  
top of it, he could shatter the bone with his weight. "Just  
wonderful."

VVVVV

Their attackers managed to shoot Ruth and Katana before the  
crush of bodies in the newly-close area made firing  
suicidal. Left only with close combat, the Labyrinth  
natives and their friends quickly took the upper hand.

Diane took charge of the wounded, getting those who could  
still walk to help those who couldn't into the maze of  
tunnels and away from the battle. Broadway looked to be in  
pretty bad shape, but Katana was well enough to help carry  
him back and away.

At a quick lull in the fighting, Brooklyn pulled Maggie and  
his kids aside. "Nash, I want you to take Daniel and your  
sister out of here."

"But ... " said both Maggie and Nashville.

"No buts. Take them to the nursery. That's the best-  
protected place there is down here, and stay with them.  
Protect the eggs." Reluctantly, Maggie handed her son to  
the young gargoyle, and kissed Daniel on the head.

"I'll find your daddy. Be good." Brooklyn had already  
turned back to the fight, and relieved an attacker of his  
gun.

As Nashville ran with the kids, Maggie saw a Quarryman start  
to follow him down the ruined corridor.

"I don't think so!" she snarled, and pounced. Her hands  
glittered with undischarged electricity. She stuck a hand  
to either side of his head. He spasmed, trying to dislodge  
her, and she let loose.

He screamed, screamed like the torture of metal, and then  
the smell hit her, like roasted porkchops. She rolled off  
him, and vomited profusely beside his shoulder.

From her position, she could see her dress, the pretty white  
lace she'd sewn for a month, dirty beyond cleaning, ripped  
beyond repair.

_He was going to kill my baby. He was going to kill my  
baby._

"Maggie?"

Brooklyn was beside her, hand on her shoulder. Out of  
instinct, she flinched, until she saw his face more clearly  
in the dimness and dust. Yes, this was the same gargoyle  
who'd said he loved her, but for him that had been a  
lifetime ago. She allow him to help her up.

"I killed him, didn't I?" Her knuckles moved to her mouth,  
and she wiped the bile there.

"Yeah. He's pretty crispy." She grimaced. "Sorry. Look,  
guy's dead. You can worry about it, or you can get back  
into the fight, but you can't do both, or you'll get  
yourself and the rest of us killed."

"I know." She stared down at the dead man at her feet. _It  
was going to be such a nice wedding._

VVVVV

"Get to the nursery!" shouted Talon. "All of you!" Most of  
the Avalon gargoyles, used to authority, started moving as  
soon as the words were out. Angela puffed her way to his  
side. "That means you, too."

"I'm staying. I have a lot to fight for." She patted her  
bulging tummy, and her eyes blazed red.

Talon shook his head. "You can't do us any good here."

"But ... "

"Angela, please. And take 'Lilah."

"This is my home!" 'Lilah said.

"And your egg's in the nursery. If this goes bad," he  
turned at Angela's sharp chuckle, "Okay, if this goes worse,  
you'll be the last line of defense for the eggs." Angela  
looked down and away. 'Lilah wanted to give her a hug --  
Broadway was back there, somewhere. "Go."

Angela placed a swift kiss on Talon's cheek. "Bring them  
all home."

"Guard those eggs."

Angela grabbed her hand. "C'mon." She dragged 'Lilah out  
and up towards the nursery. They ran together through the  
debris to where the other Avalon gargoyles already trembled,  
huddled with most of the Labyrinth's children, and the  
adults who could not fight.

'Lilah cast a look around them. Gargoyles comforted human  
children. Weary humans assisted tired, pregnant gargoyles.  
All in a fearful silence.

There was a noise in the corridor, and Angela crouched as  
'Lilah readied herself for an attack. A figure came into  
the doorway.

"It's us," said Nashville, just before Angela could jump  
him. He held a squalling Daniel in his arms, and tugged  
Tachi behind him.

Relief flooded Angela's face. "You're okay."

"We all are. I think." 'Lilah took Daniel from him and  
started soothing the baby. He calmed at her familiar touch,  
and she held him, stroking his hair. Tachi held fast to her  
brother's hand, mute.

"How bad is it?" Angela asked him.

"Bad. There are Quarrymen everywhere. So they're not after  
the humans." He wasn't bitter, not yet.

"I should be out there," Angela muttered.

"Talon said to stay here."

"Talon's okay?" Nash asked.

"He was. All right," she said to the others in the room.  
"I want you to gather what you can and build a barricade in  
front of the doorway. We can always dig out later. If  
there is a later," she said quietly.

"Where are you going?" asked Creusa.

"I have to help protect this place. That's what being a  
gargoyle is all about." And she was gone.

Daniel started crying again as some of the brighter  
gargoyles started piling every stick of furniture they could  
scavenge in front of the entry.

'Lilah kissed Daniel's head, and stood away from them, also  
watching.

VVVVV

_Time to go,_ thought Fang as the wall to his cell crumpled.  
He took a quick glance around the place that had been his  
prison for two years. Nothing here he wanted to keep. He  
climbed through the hole.

On the other side, he took a quick breath of free air.  
Tasted just the same as the stuff in his cell. He had to  
get out of here, before Talon and the rest noticed he'd gone  
missing.

"Stop right there, gargoyle!" He heard the familiar sound  
of a weapon being cocked and stopped dead. _Figures. I get  
out, and there's somebody right there to take me back._ He  
turned around slowly.

The Quarryman was barely more than a boy, and he quivered as  
he held the gun at Fang.

"Kid," said Fang, hands in the air. "I ain't a gargoyle.  
I'm a Joe Schmoe just like you who got the bad end of a  
research grant."

"You're a monster. Mr. Castaway says you carry off  
children, and break into the homes of honest people, and you  
go after human women for your ... " he swallowed, "your  
perversities."

"You're thinking of the purple guy. Me, I'd like nothing  
better than to walk out of here and go down to Casey's and  
drink about a truckload of Coors. If you put that gun down,  
you can come with me."

The kid took aim.

"Why do they always go for option B?" Fang asked of no one.  
His hands fell from the air and he shot a couple of electric  
bolts at the unsuspecting bastard. The gun went off as he  
fell, and the bullet ricocheted twice before burying itself  
in the ground.

Fang walked over to the supine kid and checked for a pulse.  
"Well, isn't this your lucky day?" He snagged the guy's  
wallet and fanned out some credit cards, a little cash.  
"Mine, too."

VVVVV

Talon tossed a Quarryman into the wall. The impact sent  
even more debris falling, covering the masked human and the  
rest of them with dust and pebbles.

"Shore up that wall!" he ordered Beth and Carl. Both  
nodded, and confiscated tables for the wood. "If you can,"  
he added, too soft for them to hear.

"Watch out!" Talon ducked without looking, heard the hammer  
whoosh over his head, then jabbed out with his leg behind  
him, felt it connect satisfactorily with flesh.

As the man crumpled, Talon turned on Angela. "I thought I  
told you to hide."

"You need me here."

He was past the mood to argue. "Fine. But if you get  
yourself killed, I am _not_ taking the heat from your dad  
and Broadway, got it?"

"Got it."

He turned back to the cave-in. "We need to get through  
this. Even if the others are dead, we have to know."

"They're alive," she said. "Nashville brought Daniel and  
Tachi to the nursery." A shudder of relief passed through  
him.

"Let's dig."

VVVVV

Malibu ducked as the man swung a hammer at his head, and  
angrily lashed out with his long tail, sending the man to  
his bottom.

"Take that!" said Brent, behind him, as he tossed another  
man into a wall. Holly whapped him over the head with a  
piece of timber he'd picked up somewhere, just to be sure.

Boo looked with approval at his brothers. They were making  
their way down the corridor, away from the rest, but they  
were fighting like real gargoyles. Too bad 'Lilah was  
missing all the fun.

And then, like magic, there were twenty guys around them,  
all pointing nasty things at them. Boo remembered, deep in  
his programmed memories, how to identify and operate the  
weapons, but that didn't do him any good when they were  
pointed at his head.

"Wait," he told the others. Banky ducked his head, ready to  
charge. Holly patted his palm with his club.

"We've got four of them," said one of the men into a walkie-  
talkie. "Waiting for orders."

"They're gargoyles," said a guy beside him. No, a girl.  
"We know what to do with them."

"These are the ones we're looking for," the guy with the  
walkie-talkie said back to her.

"Location?" asked a clipped voice from the speaker.

"South entrance, near the Park."

Boo looked around him. He hadn't noticed just how far the  
fighting had taken them from the main Labyrinth. They were  
almost outside.

"Disengage," said the voice.

"What?" asked the girl, and some of the other guys.

"You have your orders."

The leader waved his gun, and the rest backed away from  
them, towards the Labyrinth.

"What was that all about?" asked Banky.

"They must've heard of us," said Brent. "Got scared."

"Chickens," said Holly.

Boo said, "No, something's ... "

A shadow came in from the greater darkness. "Hello, boys."

Malibu had spent most of his life here, raised by Talon and  
Maggie and Claw and the clan. Something deep inside him  
momentarily lost everything he'd gained in the past two  
years as he said, "Master?"

Beside him, Brent started shaking, and Boo placed a hand on  
his brother's shoulder.

"I'm glad you remember me," said Master Thailog.

"We thought you were dead," Holly said, dropping his club.

"I nearly was." He spread his wings in the narrow tunnel.  
Boo could see the network of scars covering them, covering  
his face and torso. The amusement park had burned, and so  
had he.

"Why are you here?" Boo demanded, and cringed right after.  
Who was he to demand reasons for what Thailog wanted?

"I've come back for you, my children," said Master in his  
rich voice, so like Goliath's and so far more wonderful.

Back. Back. "Back?"

"You will come home with me, now."

"Home?" asked Brent, still trembling.

"This is our home," said Banky.

Master shook his head. "No, this is your prison. You  
should be out gliding the night skies, not trapped here  
beneath the ground. You are gargoyles."

"Home is here," Boo said.

"Really? Do you think Goliath and his clan want you? Do  
these humans want you? The other gargoyles despise you for  
what you are, and the humans are afraid of you. I will take  
care of you. Come with me."

Banky started moving towards him, and he felt Brent start to  
go. Holly stayed, but his eyes got big.

"No," said Boo, voice shaky. Banky and Brent stopped. "We  
live here now."

"I created you. You belong to me."

"We belong to us."

There was a gun in his hand. Boo's programming obediently  
supplied: _Particle beam weapon, model A4-00 manufactured by  
Heckler and Koch, safety is a small nub beside the trigger,  
power cells last for at least one thousand shots._

"You will bring Delilah, and you will come with me. Or you  
will die. And I will order the troops in there to slaughter  
every last human and gargoyle in the Labyrinth."

Brent whispered, "No ... We be good."

Boo's heart hammered. Kill everyone? Kill Maggie and Talon  
and Claw and Ruth and Mindy and Ezra? And all the real  
gargoyles? And the eggs? "We ... " he started.

"Leave them alone."

'Lilah had spoken very quietly, but her voice carried  
through the corridor just like Maggie's did when they'd done  
wrong. Master's face lit up when he saw her.

"Hello, Delilah," he purred.

"You aren't gonna hurt anybody."

"Oh, but I will, unless you and your brothers fall into line  
RIGHT NOW!" His voice had risen to a shout, and he aimed  
the gun right up Boo's nose. Boo tried not to breathe.

"No," said 'Lilah.

"'Lilah," Boo hissed, staring down the barrel.

She ignored him, walked through them, through the stalemate,  
right up to Master Thailog. She stared him in the eye and  
he stared back, still pointing the gun at Boo. Seconds  
ticked by. From far away, Boo heard shouts, shots, people  
fighting, maybe people dying.

'Lilah folded, like her floppy doll, and went to her knees,  
bowing her head, like when Ruth showed her how to pray.

"Let them go, Master," she said in a soft whisper. "If you  
make them go with you, they will fight you and I will fight  
you." She looked up at him. "Let them go, and I will go  
with you."

"Uh uh," said Holly as Boo darted towards her. The gun  
poked him in the nose.

"'Lilah, you can't go."

"Hush, Boo." Her eyes did not leave Thailog's face. "Pick.  
I won't fight. Take us all and we'll fight until you're  
dead."

Master looked at her, and at them and to her. He held out  
his hand, lifted Delilah to her feet. "Come, my dear." He  
dropped her hand, and keeping his weapon sighted, spoke into  
a walkie-talkie: "Target has been achieved. Break off the  
attack. Repeat, break off the attack."

As he spoke, 'Lilah turned her head back to Boo, and he  
watched her hand twitch rapidly through letters: "Watch  
egg." Boo swallowed, and she repeated the words.

Reluctantly, he twitched his fist in response: "Yes."

Thailog took her hand, silencing her, and pulled her towards  
the entrance.

"And just to keep this interesting," he said, and he fired  
at the ceiling behind them. The stone, already weak from  
the earlier attack, fell in, sealing the tunnel. Boo heard  
'Lilah shout as he pulled Brent out of the way, and then  
nothing.

When the dust cleared, he saw Banky with a few rocks on him,  
but okay. Holly had a large piece of ancient concrete on  
his tail, which Brent scooted over to help move. Boo looked  
at the rubble blocking their way out. And he started to  
scoop rocks and dirt away from the tunnel.

VVVVV

They were surrounded. Angela looked at Talon helplessly; he  
clutched a bleeding shoulder. The handful of humans with  
them were wounded, but held whatever they could scrounge as  
weapons, even the stones from the rockslide, useless, all  
useless, against particle beam guns.

Talon growled, low in his throat. Angela felt the battle-  
rage deep inside her. She had to protect her egg, but if  
she died and the egg died, then at least the clan would  
survive. She read in the eyes of those around her that they  
understood they were already dead, but they'd take out as  
many of the enemy as they could when they went.

"Which of you is in charge?" Talon demanded. One of the  
many masked men made a quick movement, jerking his thumb.  
"I don't suppose there's any way you'd let them," he tilted  
his head, "walk out of here if I agreed to come quietly."

"The humans," the leader said. "Not you. Not the female."  
He raised his weapon.

"Didn't think so." He glanced at the humans with them, at  
his sister, and saw what Angela had seen. "Then it looks  
like we have only one option." Angela crouched.

The walkie-talkie on the man's belt spat static:  
"Disengage." In the static, Angela thought she heard, no,  
that couldn't be right ...

The leader turned off the walkie-talkie. "I didn't hear  
anything."

One of his men turned to him, "But sir?"

Talon nodded and they sprang, claws and teeth at the ready.  
Their human friends gave cries of defiance and joined into  
the fight, wielding clubs and stones, fighting for their  
lives.

The Quarrymen had greater numbers, but they weren't  
defending the only home that hadn't thrown them out. Faced  
with their worst nightmares given flesh and wings and aided  
by humans, and having already been given an order to  
retreat, several took that option, and ran into and over  
their fellows behind them.

Those that remained really had no chance.

When they were done, when the attackers were lost in the  
Labyrinth or dead on the floor, Angela took a moment to  
breathe. She looked at her allies, wounded though they  
were, and thought, _They did it. They defended their home.  
They repelled an invasion. Whatever comes next, they have  
that._

VVVVV

"Disengage," came the tinny order over the speaker.  
Brooklyn heard it from one of the bodies piled at his feet.  
He glanced up, saw Maggie in the ruins of her wedding dress  
take out another Quarryman. The others were already running  
for safety, but there would be no safety for them here. The  
residents of these tunnels knew them far better than any  
invading force could hope to, and they would revenge  
themselves on the fleeing men and women.

Brooklyn was willing to bet maybe two in five of those still  
alive made it out.

And these. They'd have to figure out what to do with these,  
sort the living from the dead, and choose how to deal with  
both.

Katana came from a tunnel opposite, dragging in another  
corpse. He went to her, wrapped his arms around her as she  
dropped the body. She trembled, and he held her near but  
not touching her wound.

"We're alive," he whispered into her short hair. "We're  
alive and the kids are safe. That's what matters right  
now."

"One of the humans died from her wounds. Broadway may not  
live until sunrise. Others are injured badly, and they have  
so few supplies."

"We'll take who we can up top. There are hospitals.  
They're legally required to treat injured humans, even if  
they don't know if they can pay. We'll do what we can."

There was a movement in the rubble near the top of the pile.  
A few stones gave way and clattered down to his feet.  
Brooklyn broke away from his mate, went into a crouch. Out  
of the corner of his eye, he saw Maggie ready herself, saw  
Peter with a gun he'd taken from a dead Quarryman. If there  
were more ...

"Anyone alive in there?" came Talon's welcome voice.

Maggie let out a shuddering sigh. "Derek!" she called.  
"Who's alive?"

"I've got Angela here, and Beth. Carl and Steph and Ezra  
are okay. Jorge's wounded, but I think he'll live." More  
stones dislodged, and Brooklyn climbed the treacherous pile,  
helping to move rocks. Katana stood below him, and passed  
stone after stone down to Toby, who passed them to Peter,  
who handed them off to another, and another.

Maggie broke off from the digging to go to the nursery and  
check on the kids. She came back several minutes later with  
Nash and Tachi and Daniel, followed by a scared group of the  
Avalon gargoyles.

"We sent the others to the other side," Maggie explained,  
as the newcomers helped at the dig, helped drag bodies,  
helped tend to wounded friends.

"Is 'Lilah over there?" Talon asked from the ever-widening  
hole.

Brooklyn looked. "Nope."

"She left the nursery ages ago," said Nashville, moving  
rocks.

"She what?" asked Talon and Maggie simultaneously from  
opposite sides of the hole. Talon turned pale under his  
fur.

He barked an order to someone behind him. "Get a group  
together. Go see who's still hiding, and who's elsewhere in  
the Labyrinth. Find the clones."

A deep pit opened in Brooklyn's stomach. _It's too soon,_  
he told himself.

Without the order, Maggie gathered a handful of humans and  
gargoyles and set them to the search for survivors.

_She's fine, wherever she is. It's too soon._ He kept  
excavating.

VVVVV

Maggie was near the south entrance to the Park, ready to  
turn back, when she heard the noise. More digging.

She rounded a corner, and saw the boys, trying to dig their  
way through another landslide. "Oh thank god," she said.

Brent turned, and a smile broke over his face, quick like a  
cloud and then gone. The others kept shoveling. "Boys,  
you're going the wrong way. The Labyrinth is back here. We  
can dig out the entrance later."

"No," said Boo. "Have to get through." He was choking back  
tears, and Maggie went to him, placed a hand on his  
shoulder. None of the clones seemed to be wounded, just a  
little shell-shocked.

"Boo, come on."

"He came," said Holly.

"Who came?" Brent started to shake and Banky went with more  
ferocity at the pile of rocks. Malibu kept working, not  
quickening, not slowing, like a golem set to dig and not  
told to stop. "Boo?"

"He wanted us," said Brent. "Wanted us back."

_Oh God._ There was only one being whose mention set them  
to this kind of stuttering terror, this cold anger that she  
could now see radiating off Malibu like uranium.

"What did he do?"

"Said," said Brent, and he stopped.

Holly said, "Said we go, or die." He wrapped his wings  
around his large body, and picked up a rock from the pile.  
He looked at it, tossed it, took another.

The chill in her grew. "Where's 'Lilah?"

But even before Brent burst into tears, before Boo threw a  
rock so hard it shattered, before Holly sunk into his wings,  
and Banky finally told her in broken English what had  
happened, she knew.

VVVVV

The death toll was lower than it could have been. Ruth was  
dead, Mark was dead, Stephen and Loretta were dead. Two of  
the Avalon gargoyles had been caught under the landslide;  
both had already delivered their eggs. Fang was out of his  
cell, but they did not find a body and so assumed he'd  
survived.

Broadway lived to daybreak and woke the following evening  
recovered, to Angela's relief. They'd found Goliath, Elisa  
and Lex, who had been trapped in a passageway. Once  
Goliath's sleep had healed him from his injuries, he'd  
ripped a door off that they'd never opened before, but  
fortunately, meandered back to the rest of the Labyrinth.

They'd decided to release the prisoners, against protests  
from those who hurt too deeply still. They put them outside  
of the Labyrinth with the remains of their fellows, and  
Elisa, who nursed a sprained ankle, called the cops from a  
local precinct without giving her name.

So much of the Labyrinth had been damaged, Talon hadn't been  
certain at first if it was safe to rebuild. When he woke  
from a fitful doze to hear some of the other residents  
hammering and sawing with their little equipment, he knew  
the decision had already been made.

They were alive. As Brooklyn had said, that was the  
important part for now.

The clones had withdrawn into their own company, speaking  
only when necessary, communicating by sign when they could.  
One of them, he thought it was Boo, had taken Grover from  
the playroom and placed him beside 'Lilah's egg in the  
nursery.

Maggie stood there, staring at the egg and the toy. Talon  
came up behind her, touched her shoulders, and she jerked.  
He drew her into an embrace from behind.

"Why did she go?" she asked him. The nursery was quiet, not  
even a sound from within the growing clutch of eggs, and all  
the human children were currently with their parents.  
"Why?"

"I don't know," he admitted, and felt a twinge of guilt.

In his mind, Owen Burnett said, "The trade was a life for a  
life. All three of us made the bargain, and Anubis  
accepted. The standard practice is that the first person  
you see when you go home will be the one to die."

_I wouldn't have said yes if I'd known._

"We lost so much," Maggie said. "Because that bastard  
couldn't stand losing his toys. I hate him so much," she  
growled, her hands in tight fists. She stared hard at the  
egg.

He turned her around to face him. "Maggie ... "

"He did this. I want him to pay. I want him to hurt."

"We'll find her. No matter what, we'll find her. I  
promise," he said, and slowly he drew her to him. Sobs  
wracked her body; he simply held her, rocking back and  
forth. He watched the egg, with its Muppet guardian. _I  
will find you. Whatever it takes._

VVVVV

Katie was doing her nails.

She was an expert, truth be told. For a while, she'd  
considered going into the lucrative world of cosmetology and  
nail art. Then her mom had told her she was going to  
business college, like it or lump it, and Katie had liked  
it. Who knew?

Her temp company had placed her in a few of the bigger  
corporations in town without any real offers, until her  
resume at Moonrise had landed her the permanent job at  
Nightstone. Well, maybe "permanent" wasn't the best word;  
the position she filled had apparently been in the revolving  
door category since the business started. But Katie had  
been quiet, had persevered, had made an effort, and okay,  
she'd been hired like two days before Ms. Destine went AWOL  
so the boss hadn't even met her, much less had a chance to  
fire her. So here she was, a year and a half after her hire  
date, doing her nails, waiting for the day to end.

The door to the outer suite opened, and she set her emery  
board carefully aside, folding her immaculate hands. "May I  
help you?"

As she asked the question, her brain registered what her  
eyes were already taking in, and she gasped, "Ms. Destine!"  
Katie scrambled to her feet. "Welcome back!" she babbled,  
and then shut up before she said anything else.

Her employer's eyes narrowed. "Who are you? What happened  
to my secretary ... " She tapped her long, elegant nails on  
the desk Katie watched them and had the oddest feeling  
they were longer and sharper than they looked. "Paula?"  
asked Ms. Destine uncertainly.

"Paula was here before me." _You fired her a week after she  
started._

Ms. Destine shook her head. "Whatever. I'll need all my  
messages. And I want the following people, or their  
replacements, in my office in ten minutes." She scribbled  
down names on a blue Post-It.

"But it's quarter till five!" said Katie.

"Then you should have just enough time to gather them."  
Something in her voice kept Katie from protesting any  
further. Ms. Destine went into her office as Katie started  
dialing numbers.

"What are these!" came the shout a moment later. Katie  
scurried into the inner office to see Ms. Destine staring at  
the plants.

"That's a spider plant, and that's an aloe. The ones on the  
heater are African violets, and ... "

"I know what they are. Why are they in my office?"

Katie shrugged. "I thought it would cheer up the place,  
keep it bright for when you came back from your ... leave."

"Personal time," said Ms. Destine quietly. She stared at  
the plants again, and as if speaking a foreign language  
she'd learned from a book, Ms. Destine enunciated: "Thank  
you."

"You're welcome."

"That will be all."

"Yes, ma'am." Katie went back to her desk, trembling as she  
dialed. The Dragon Lady had come from an extended vacation  
to nowhere and _thanked her_.

With her free hand, she tucked her emery board away in her  
purse. It seemed life was going to get a bit more  
interesting around the office.

VVVVV

Author's Note:

I cannot take credit for Dr. Howard's comments on Merlin.  
Those belong to the inimitable Jim Owczarski from the  
Bristol Renaissance Faire, a man who stands on a stage every  
week of the summer wearing black tights and says, "If you  
want to paint yourself blue, run around nude, fine, but do  
it somewhere else. Some of us are trying to lead normal  
lives." Love ya, Jim.


End file.
